Good Enough
by thedeliverygod
Summary: There was no way it was him. She hadn't seen him since she was six; in that playground in her old neighborhood, before her mother had pulled her away and tried to explain that she and him were too different to be friends. [a multi-chapter yatori college AU]
1. Reintroduction

**I'm so glad I finally finished something for this lol. I've had this idea in my head for literally forever and I've changed around the idea for it so many times but this time it FINALLY stuck! I have no idea how many chapters this will turn out to be but I'm excited to do my first real multi-chapter Noragami fanfic!**

 _Good Enough_

There was no way it was him.

She hadn't seen him since she was six; in that playground in her old neighborhood, before her mother had pulled her away and tried to explain that she and him were too different to be friends. She hadn't really understood then, and even now, at nineteen, she still struggled with the ideologies her mother constantly threw at her. Though thankfully being enrolled at a university far away from home eliminated many of those problems; at least temporarily.

She had thought about him a few times in passing as she grew up, but she never lingered on it for long. It was such a brief part of her childhood and there were many other friends she'd ended up losing once she moved, but for some reason her mind went back to him and she could never figure out at why.

Not until she caught sight of his eyes for the first time in years. Those aquamarine eyes were unmistakable.

"Y-Yato-kun?" Her throat was extremely dry and she was sure he probably wouldn't even be able to hear her, but he looked up immediately from his laptop as she called his name.

He did a double take as well, scrunching up his eyebrows and looking over her with a confused look, "Hi…Hiyori-chan?"

She smiled brightly at the fact that he remembered her too, gaining a little bit of confidence, "What are you doing here?"

He blinked and glanced back down at his laptop for a moment with a laugh, "Well, I think that's kind of obvious."

"You know what I mean…" Hiyori rolled her eyes, but smiled again as she thought, ' _He hasn't changed at all_.'

"Majoring in computer science, but this is only my second semester. I tried to work straight out of high school and that was fine for a while but I've got more responsibilities now. So I'm trying to do something where I don't have to work four jobs to survive. The left over financial aid doesn't hurt, either." He shut his laptop and reached for his backpack, looking back up at her, "And you?"

She had been staring, taking in how much he'd grown up; both in terms of his voice as well as his physical appearance. It took her a moment for his question to sink and she flushed, answering quickly, "Pre-med. This is my sophomore year, I started last spring."

"So taking after your dad, then?" He didn't look up this time, stuffing his laptop and notebooks back into his backpack.

Hiyori gaped, "You remember that?"

"Kinda." Yato shrugged before he stood up and pulled one strap of his backpack over his shoulder, "I mean, I'm surprised you remember me at all."

"We used to play together all the time and…" She hesitated, looking down at her feet for a few seconds, "You were always really nice and didn't think my interest in wrestling was weird."

He laughed at that, pulling the other strap over his shoulder, "I wasn't exactly a normal kid myself, so… I definitely was in no position to judge. But hey, it was nice running into you. I've got a shift that starts pretty soon, so I need to get going."

He started to turn to leave before Hiyori called out, "Yato-kun!" Once he'd turned back around, she stuttered, "W-would you mind meeting up somewhere for lunch or dinner so we can have the chance to talk more?"

"Are you asking me on a date?" He angled himself towards her with an amused grin, his hand on his hip.

" _No_." She corrected him firmly, "I'd just really like to talk with you more and get to know you again."

Yato laughed again before reaching into his pocket and holding out his phone, "Here, trade with me." As Hiyori took his phone and gave him hers, he requested, "And can you do me a favor and just call me Yato? Hearing you say Yato-kun makes me feel like I'm still a little kid."

She finished typing and held out his phone as she nodded, "Alright. You can call me Hiyori, too, then."

"I look forward to a text from you, Hiyori." He gave her phone back and took his, sticking his tongue out before turning around and heading off.

And Hiyori was a happy mess for the rest of the night.

"Are you sure this wasn't like a childhood crush that you're reliving or something?" Her friend Yama asked from across the table as they ate dinner in their dorm kitchen.

She shook her head vehemently, "No! I'm just really happy I saw him again. It's just something you'd never expect, right?"

"I mean, it's not unheard of to bump into old childhood friends. Still, I would say you're definitely more excited than most people would be." Ami commented before taking a sip of her drink.

"I guess it's because we only stopped being friends because of my mom. And then I had to move shortly after that so I didn't get the chance to explain." Hiyori frowned, taping her fingers absentmindedly against the table.

Ami tilted her head, "Why did your mom make you stop being friends with him?"

"Mrs. Iki is very strict and is all about upholding the family image." Yama answered for her, heaving a sigh and sinking down on the table, "Honestly, I'm lucky I wasn't kicked the curb. I'm pretty sure she considered once or twice."

Hiyori gave a comforting smile and reached out to touch her arm, "Maybe. But I'm pretty sure she knew I'd never stop being friends with you no matter what, Yama-chan."

"Awww. Thanks, Hiyori!" She gripped her hand briefly before sitting back up.

"Wow. That's pretty intimidating. Now I'm nervous to meet her." Ami let out a small breath of air, "Still… you two were just kids at the time. It shouldn't have really mattered then."

Hiyori didn't say anything but gave a soft smile. Yama, on the other hand, let out a scoff. "Oh please, you've got nothing to worry about. You're like the epitome of the good girl image."

Ami gave a small glare, "Are you trying to say I'm boring?"

"Just a _little_ bit! You just need to go out with us more. I mean, yeah, studying's important but you've gotta have fun too! This is college, after all; and next year we'll be twenty and able to drink whenever we want." Yama reminded her with a wide grin, "Then things will really start getting interesting!"

Ami rolled her eyes and Hiyori laughed. "How about you plan something for this weekend, Yama? It's the beginning of the semester so the workload's pretty light right now." She moved to the sink and started rinsing her things.

"Alright! But before I set anything up, figure out when your date is, Hiyori." Yama leaned back in her chair, watching her friends back.

She immediately whipped around, a blush taking over her cheeks as she defended, "It's not like that, I swear!"

"Didn't you say he asked if it was a date though?" Yama raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Well, yeah, but he was joking." Hiyori turned back around to continue working on her dishes, "He's just like that. Plus I told him no."

Ami looked to Yama and held out her hand, "Five hundred yen says that she'll start dating him eventually."

Yama let the chair legs fall back to the floor and reached out to shake Ami's hand, "Deal!"

Hiyori dropped her dishes with a loud clang, growing even more crimson as she looked back to them, "You guys, stop it! I don't even really know what he's like now. I only talked to him for maybe five minutes at the most…"

"We're just messing with you." Yama sighed and waved her hand, "It's just cute how excited you are. And with all the crap you've dealt with because of Fujisaki-san, I'd like to see you happy. You know?"

Hiyori turned back and gripped the edge of the sink tightly, "Y-yeah. Thanks." Finishing up her cleaning, she placed the dishes in a drying rack and turned around to leave with a small wave, "I'll see you two tomorrow!"

"Goodnight!" Ami waved back with a smile.

"Night! But yeah, just text me whenever you know when you're gonna meet up with this guy and then I'll make plans for us, 'kay?"

"Okay." Hiyori nodded with a small smile before making her way out into the hallway. Making a right and going up another flight of stairs, she made her way to her room and slipped off her shoes after shutting the door. Letting out a small breath of air, she stretched out across her bed and started to make a mental list of the homework she needed to accomplish for tomorrow's classes. ' _But before that_ …' She reached for her phone, skimming her unread emails before moving to Yato's contact information and staring at it for a moment.

She felt the nervousness building up in her chest, but excused it as a side-effect of Yama and Ami teasing her earlier. It'd been quite a few hours since she saw him so more than likely his shift was done and she wouldn't be potentially interrupting him, but she still worried about that too.

Letting out a huff of air, she hit the message button and started to type.

 **Hi, it's Hiyori. If you're still at work you can ignore this but I was just wondering what day and time would be good for you to meet up?**

She pressed the send button and immediately clutched onto her pillow and shut her eyes.

This whole situation was so awkward and so weird. Still, there was no way she could just leave their reunion as a five minute conversation and nothing else. After all, they were bound to bump into each other again at some point due to the fact they went to the same university. It was easier this way.

 _I guess Thursday night would be good I dont really have any suggestions for where to eat though so you pick_

She started to type a new message before she got another text.

 _Uh preferably somewhere cheap if you dont mind_

 **Of course! This is supposed to be casual after all. Thursday night at the ramen shop close to the corner of campus at 6 sound okay?**

 _Actually can you do 5? I know its kinda early for dinner but id just like to get home sooner_

Hiyori blinked curiously as she read the text, wondering why.

 **Sure, that's fine. See you then!**

He didn't answer her after that, but she got the information she needed so that was all that mattered. Smiling, she moved to her messages from Yama and sent one to her.

 **Looks like we're meeting on Thursday night so I'm good for whenever!**

Hiyori sat up and started to move for her desk when she heard her phone make a chirp. Looking down, she saw Yama's message.

 _Oooh, going out on a school night! What would Mrs. Iki say?_

She rolled her eyes but let out a small laugh as she typed her reply.

 **Nothing because she's not going to know.**

 _I'm liking this new rebellious Hiyori!_

Hiyori let out another laugh and shook her head before moving over to her desk, pulling one of her textbooks from the shelving and laying it down in front of her. The workload was light, but she definitely needed to stay ahead if she was going to be out and about all weekend.


	2. History

**This story is flowing so easily for me, at least for now haha. I'm having such a fun time writing it. It seems a little short to me but I couldn't help ending it in that exact spot to set up for next chapter. Hope you enjoy it!**

 _Good Enough: Chapter Two_

Hiyori refreshed her email for what felt like the thousandth time, hoping maybe some sort of department store message or even spam would show up in her inbox just so she could look like she was busy. Though honestly it didn't matter much, because she was looking up practically every thirty seconds to see if she could spot Yato walking in anyway. She probably looked like a wreck.

And she didn't even know why she was worrying so much because there was still ten minutes until five. She, of course, had been raised to always be _extra_ early, but most people her age were exactly on time or late. Still she couldn't shake this worry that for whatever reason he wasn't going to show up.

Their earlier meeting had been awkward at best and they hadn't talked through text other than to arrange this get together. She had been extremely excited about seeing him again, but there was the chance that Yato saw it much like Yama and Ami had; just an interesting coincidence.

Hiyori sighed.

If that was the case, she hoped he would at least send her a text to cancel and not stand her up completely.

"Uh, you okay?"

His voice right next to her ear made her head snap upwards and she nearly dropped her phone to the floor, "Y-Yato!" He took a step back and tilted his head at her curiously as she reached up to hold a hand to her chest, "Sorry, you just scared me. Yeah, everything's fine."

He took a seat next to her, leaning his elbow against the bar, "You sure? You seemed pretty worried over something. I mean, you didn't even hear me when I called your name."

"Really?" Her cheeks warmed, "Wow… I was, um, I was just worrying about all of the stuff I have to do this semester, since we just got the syllabi this week. And wondering maybe whether or not I had time for a job on top of that." She briskly forced out a lie as an employee slid a glass of water towards Yato.

"Ah, that kinda stuff." He nodded, his voice almost sounding uninterested.

As she watched him sip on his water, she continued with her topic, "Well you work and go to school, right? How do you manage it?"

Yato blinked and shrugged, "I dunno. I never really had any other option, so… I make it happen. I still procrastinate and I mean, my grades aren't always the greatest because I don't have a whole lot of time to study even when I want to. But still, I do enough to pass."

"O-oh." Hiyori answered sheepishly before she was thankfully saved by a different employee asking for their orders. Though when they were left to themselves again she fiddled awkwardly with her hands for a minute, almost gaining the courage to talk again before her concentration was broken by him receiving a beer.

' _That's right, he turned twenty last year…'_ She watched him, recalling their age difference.

When they were kids, Yato had been only been less than an inch taller than her, so she figured they were the same age for quite a while until he finally corrected her. As an adult, he still only had a little less than half a foot on her and he was so skinny that she almost forgot again.

Realizing that he had caught her staring, she tried her best attempt at a teasing tone, "So what have you been up to for the past… you know… thirteen years?"

He gave a half-hearted smile and put down his drink, "If we're gonna go with that question, I really think it'd be better for you to go first."

"Why's that?" She furrowed her brows and pulled her hands down into her lap.

His eyes flickered away from hers to the middle of the restaurant, answering softly, "Just trust me."

Hiyori blinked and nodded slowly, "Um, okay. Well… I guess, first off let me apologize for my mother. I really wanted to go back and say I was sorry for what she said, but we ended up moving really suddenly soon after that."

"That's okay." Yato ran a hand through his hair sheepishly, mumbling, "I really don't blame her."

She immediately frowned, "Don't put yourself down like that! You were just a kid at the time, and I'm sure even now you—"

"You're getting off subject," He interrupted her with a small smile and a wave of his hand, "Keep going."

She pursed her lips and glared at him momentarily before continuing, "Once we moved, I stayed where I was until I graduated high school. I was sort of still awkward at the beginning of middle school but I grew out of it towards the end, mostly because of my best friend, Yama-chan. I studied really hard in high school so I could get into a university and then once I got here I met my other best friend, Ami-chan."

She paused and squeezed her hands together, "Unfortunately my mom was still pretty controlling of who I interacted with, what sort of clubs I joined, and other things like that throughout school when I was living at home but… now that I'm here, things have been better." She finished with a small smile.

Yato turned his head with a small laugh, commenting, "I'm kind of surprised that you still seem the same. A lot of people with those types of helicopter parents turn into complete psychos once they finally get their freedom because they don't know how to handle it. You know, partying all the time, drinking, drugs, sex; all of that." He took a sip of his beer, "Then again, I don't really know you that well. I guess you could be like that."

She almost fell out of her seat at that accusation. "I am _not_ like that. At. All." She grinded her teeth together, her face growing hot again.

"I'm just messing with you." He laughed again and shook his head, "It's pretty obvious that's not your scene."

She wasn't sure if she should be glad or offended, commenting back, "I mean, you can't always tell who is and who isn't in that crowd. Not that I am."

"Believe me, I can tell." He answered nonchalantly, using the straw in his water glass to stir around the ice cubes, "And I guess it's time to tell my sob story now."

Hiyori scrunched up her face and started to part her lips at his mention of the words 'sob story', but she decided it was best to stay quiet and let him explain so she held her tongue.

"I'm sure I said something along the lines of my dad being scary, right?" He continued to stare into his water glass, his voice low.

"Yeah, you did." She answered just as quietly, nodding.

She didn't think much of him saying that at the time, either. She considered both of her parents to be scary when they were mad at her and even though Yato seemed much more frightened by it, she never thought to analyze his words more deeply. Abuse was something she didn't have the slightest idea about as a child, but now her face fell as she put the pieces together and he continued.

"There was a lot more to it than that, obviously. And it was getting worse as I got older, so it was probably only a year after you left a teacher at school saw some of the bruises. My dad got reported and I didn't have any family, so into the foster care system I went. Got moved around from place to place, sometimes it was my fault for getting in trouble at school or whatever but sometimes it was just issues with not having enough space. For high school I managed to stay in the same place so I got my act together to at least finish that. But I didn't think I could ever afford to go to a university or that I even deserved it, so I just started working right away."

Hiyori blinked several times, her eyes watering, "Y-Yato…"

"And that's why I wanted you to go first." He gave a sheepish smile and a sigh before taking another drink of his beer, "Because I knew you'd feel bad and probably wouldn't want to even talk about your past. Like you would be rubbing it in how normal your childhood was compared to mine."

He was absolutely right, but she avoided the subject. "What about your sister? …Did you stay together or at least have contact with her?"

Yato shook his head, "Dad never laid a hand on Hiiro. After a while she eventually started seeing it from his side of things too. So we were separated and after whatever charges he dealt with, she probably went back to him."

"I'm so sorry." She closed her eyes tightly and exhaled as she bowed her head, her knuckles turning white as she clasped her hands together even more.

"It's fine, Hiyori." He waved his hand, "Can't change the past. Besides, the reason I remember you so well is because you noticed me when no one else did. Hell, I mean I'm on this campus on a daily basis and still the only people who really interact with me are people who are forced to during class. That is until you showed up out of the blue again."

She looked up with somewhat of a forced smile. She was happy that he seemed to appreciate their reunion as much as she did, but the underlying reasons made her heart ache.

"Here you are." The employee carefully moved their bowls of ramen towards them and they both gave a quick thank you.

Not hesitating to take his first bite, Yato spoke with a mouth full of food, "I did make a good friend in high school, though; her name's Kofuku. She had some pretty shitty luck until she met this older guy, Daikoku, and they started dating. Sucked for me though, cuz I kinda had a crush on her at the time and he knew it too, so he hated my guts for a while."

"That's unfortunate." Hiyori answered as she started to eat, being careful as to not burn or tongue or splash the broth on her clothes.

"It turned out okay. Daikoku was actually the first one to give me a job after I graduated. His family owns this convenience store so he promised if I got my diploma then he'd help me out. I still had to get two other jobs on top of that to try and keep myself alive at the time, but I still appreciated it. He and Kofuku have both bailed me out whenever I really need it, so they both mean a lot to me." Yato gave an annoyed look, "Even though Daikoku has the tendency to act like a worried mom sometimes. And when he's not doing that, he's yelling at me. Our relationship's kind of weird."

She gave a giggle at his last statement, "It sounds like they care a lot about you, too."

"Yeah, they do." He stared down at his ramen with a small smile.

"So, if you don't mind me asking," Hiyori started and Yato lifted his head again to look at her, "What made you decide to apply to university and start taking classes?"

"It was fine when I was working multiple jobs to take care of myself," He went to take another bite, "But now there's a kid I've gotta take care of."


	3. Questions

**Backstory, backstory & more backstory~ also I stole the last name "Ametsuchi" for Yato from my other story **_**The Benefits of Dating a God**_ **lol. Since this story's pretty much from Hiyori's POV and she just calls him only Yato, I wanted to specify that when you see Ametsuchi-san mentioned, that's Yato!**

 **Hope you enjoy~**

 _Good Enough_

"K—kid?" Hiyori's mouth had gone completely dry as she repeated the word and she was thankful that she wasn't drinking or eating anything or else she may have spit it out in shock. But he _was_ twenty-one; it wasn't unheard of and she hadn't yet bothered to ask about his current home life.

For all she knew he could have been _married_ and failed to mention that, too. She could already imagine Yama joking about threatening to tell her mother the shame she'd brought upon the Iki family by going out to dinner with a married man.

After her embarrassment had dropped down into her stomach, she realized how rude she must look with her mouth hanging wide open. She clutched both hands to cover her face and gave a small apologetic bow and stuttered out, "I'm so sorry, I apologize for being so impolite. I—it's just a little su—surprising, that's all."

Yato laughed loudly and she started to sink down in her seat, sure that she was going to literally die right then and there if her face got any hotter.

"He's not _my_ kid." He finally corrected, still half laughing, "I mean he is, technically, because I'm his legal guardian and all, but he's not mine biologically. He's fifteen."

"O—oh." She took a deep breath and relief washed over her.

"I get that sort of reaction a lot because I don't really think about it when I talk about him," He looked over to her with a grin, "But I knew your reaction would be fun to watch, so I kind of did it on purpose."

Hiyori let out a huff and turned back to her food, hastily taking a bite, "Jerk."

"Sorry." She heard him answer and she turned his head to see him return to his food as well. His smile was still on his lips, but it seemed like it no longer reached his eyes.

Hiyori's face fell. Trying to play off her comment more jokingly, she pressed, "So any other surprises about your home life?"

He shook his head, "Nah, that's about it. I work, I go to school, and I take care of a teenage brat named Yukine who appreciates me _sometimes,_ but not nearly enough as I would like." He blinked and added, "Oh, and I do some favors around my apartment complex for extra cash, like helping my neighbors clean up their house or fixing their leaky sinks. So, uh, if you know anybody with those sort of problems, send them my way."

"I don't know of anyone right now, but I'll let you know…" She tapped her fingers against the counter in thought, "So, um, how'd you become the parent of a teenager? Yukine-kun, was it?"

"Daikoku caught him shop lifting, actually. And the funny thing is that Daikoku is a big softy when it comes to kids, so he probably would have given him something if he just asked. Anyway, I was just sort of watching from afar but the moment Daikoku started yelling at him and raised his hand, I saw the poor kid flinch and I knew right away that he'd probably been through some of the same shit I'd been through growing up. Daikoku noticed it too because he lowered his voice and took a step back, and he didn't really question it when I ditched the register and asked if I could deal with him instead." Yato ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"He was _such_ a brat at first and sometimes I could barely stand to be around him, but I knew I was exactly like him when I was that age. And I wished that I'd had someone around to tell me to cut it out and how to deal with stuff instead of having to figure it out on my own so… I took it upon myself." He leaned forward to take a sip of his water, "I was living at Kofuku and Daikoku's at the time, so it was pretty easy to pass the home inspection and all that. We especially sold it saying Kofuku and Daikoku are basically like my sister and brother-in-law so Yukine would have like a _real_ family. But like I said, I was sort of killing myself trying to support me and Yukine so I decided I needed to go to school to get a better job. Daikoku and Kofuku offered to do pretty much everything we ever needed, but that wasn't fair to them either so... yeah. Here I am."

His eyes only flickered over to meet hers a few times while he talked, but she saw his expression change quite a bit; from fondness, to annoyance, to amusement, disappointment, and back again. She had to admit she was a bit curious about his rebellious teenager years, especially since he still seemed very much the same as the young boy who cared so deeply about everything and everyone. But then again, she couldn't even begin to imagine the things that he'd been through; and that was only the things he told her.

"So you said he appreciates you sometimes. Does that mean he doesn't misbehave as much, now?" She titled her head curiously.

He looked back to her with a small smirk, "You've got so many questions, Hiyori."

She flushed and her eyes moved down towards her lap, "Sorry."

"Well, most days the only one I have to talk to is Yukine, so I guess it's kinda nice to blabber to someone else for once. So I'm not really complaining, either." He shrugged and leaned back in his chair, "Yeah, he's a good kid. He's still a brat to _me_ sometimes, but he's great with everyone else and works really hard in school. He could use a bit of tutoring in English and Japanese, though. But he's too stubborn to ask for help."

Her eyes widened and she leaned towards him, announcing loudly, "I could tutor him!"

Yato furrowed his eyebrows from behind his beer can before he lowered it back down, "What? No. That's okay, really."

"You said he needed help with it, right? I used to tutor people all the time in high school." She gave a sheepish smile, "It was an acceptable excuse to stay out of the house longer, you know. But I turned out to be pretty good at it and I ended up liking it a lot, so I wouldn't mind tutoring Yukine-kun at all."

"I—I couldn't really pay you anything, though…" He looked down to the floor, "So I appreciate the thought but—"

"You don't have to pay me." Hiyori quickly interrupted with a wave of her hand.

Yato looked up, gaping again, "But—Hiyori…"

She shook her head and gave a soft smile, "I mean it, it's fine."

"You've always been way too giving." He let out a sigh and let his shoulders slump, "Is there something I can do instead? I'd feel guilty if you just did it for nothing in return."

"Hmm… I can't think of anything right now, but I'll think about it, okay?" Hiyori gave a small smile and rested her hands in her lap.

"Thank you." Yato answered quietly before he slid his bowl forward, "So, I guess we'll have to talk more about you next time, since you know my entire life story now."

She giggled, "I'm sure you didn't tell me literally _everything_ , but sure. Next time you can ask me all the questions." She paused and looked back to him curiously, "So is the reason you had to leave early so you could get home to Yukine-kun?"

"Yeah." He nodded as he reached into his pocket for his wallet before his bright eyes moved back to hers briefly, "Don't say that I mentioned this, but he's not a big fan of the dark. So I try to be home at night, if I can."

Hiyori honestly had to stop herself from letting out a stereotypical ' _Awww_ ' response, instead giving another small smile and nodding, "Oh, I see."

"I know, I know. I'm such a good dad and it's adorable." He stood up and put a hand on his waist, thinking out loud, "If I wasn't so bad with people I'd say I should start using it as a pickup line or something since it always seems to win over girls." His hand fell back to his side as he came to the conclusion, "Then again, Yukine might literally kill me in my sleep if I said that sort of stuff often." Hiyori let out another laugh and he looked up with a grin, "Well, I guess I'll see you around."

"I'll send you my class schedule later so you and Yukine-kun can figure out a good time for his tutoring sessions." She answered eagerly, her legs now swinging beneath the bar.

He flashed another sheepish smile before turning towards the door, "Right, thanks. See you later."

"Bye!" Hiyori answered loudly before reaching into her purse to get out her wallet. Once she had paid her bill and exited the building, she reached down to her phone to text Yama.

 **I'm heading back now.**

She only took a few steps before her phone went off.

 _We'll be waiting in the lobby. TELL US EVERYTHINGGG!_

Hiyori frowned and let out a small huff to herself. **Yama, I told you guys that it wasn't a date**.

Her friend stayed silent after that response and she smiled in relief, putting her phone back into her pocket so she could focus on walking back. Her dorm building was every bit of fifteen to twenty minute walk from campus, though thankfully the restaurant was at the corner closest to the direction she needed to walk in. She'd walked past it for about two months before she and Yama finally decided to check it out on a whim their freshman year.

Hiyori glanced behind her in the opposite direction. Yato had gotten a head start, so she didn't really see what direction he went in, but she hoped she hadn't put him too far out of the way from home; especially with Yukine waiting on him.

Shuffling her way through groups of grade school kids and the few people who were lucky enough to be out of work at a decent hour, she was relieved where her dorm building finally came into sight. However, that relief quickly vanished as she got closer and spotted Yama and Ami waiting through the glass windows, remembering Yama's text. "Here we go…" Hiyori mumbled to herself before continuing forward through the doors. Waving her hand, she greeted weakly, "Hi Yama-chan, Ami-chan."

"Hey, Hiyori!" Ami answered cheerily.

Yama didn't even bother with the formalities and practically dragged her down into a chair, "Soooo?"

"I don't know? It was fine. We just caught up on the basics of everything we've missed out on, that's all." Hiyori answered awkwardly, crossing her arms, "Oh, but I do have a new tutoring job, now! Yato actually takes care of a fifteen year old boy and he mentioned that he had some issues with language based classes even though he does really well in everything else."

The shock flashed across both girls' faces. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. How old is this guy again?" Yama stared at her intently.

"Twenty one." She looked down and twiddled her fingers together, "It's sort of a personal story so I don't want to go into it much, but yeah, he's Yukine-kun's legal guardian."

"So how'd you react when he told you he was basically a parent?" Ami tilted her head.

Hiyori looked back up and smiled, "The same as you two, pretty much. At least until he explained the situation more."

"I mean, I guess at least that means he's really responsible; if he can handle all that at such a young age." Ami tapped a finger against her chin in thought.

Hiyori's face immediately flared up again and her voice rose in annoyance, "How many times do I have to tell you guys that it wasn't a date!?"

Yama rolled her eyes, "Okay, so even if it _wasn't_ a date. Do you like him, Hiyori?"

"I'm _not_ reliving a childhood crush!" She retorted loudly, causing a few other people in the area to turn their heads and look at her. "Ugh." She hid her face in her hands.

"Okay, well, that wasn't what I was asking." Yama lowered her voice in order to try and save Hiyori some embarrassment, "Do you like him _now_? Because I don't think I've ever seen you get this excited or flustered about anyone—other than Touno-sama, but that so doesn't count. I still don't really understand your obsession with him, yuck."

Hiyori lowered her hands and peeked out from behind the top of her fingers with a glare, "Touno-sama is an inspiration and the greatest fighter to ever grace the world stage."

"You still didn't answer my question." Yama sighed and gave her a tired stare.

She lowered her hands more, thinking out loud, "I don't know. There were times I really missed him while growing up and I'm just glad to get spend time with him again. I'm not really thinking about anything like that."

"Have you never had a crush then, Hiyori?" Ami asked curiously, pressing her elbows against her knees and holding her face in her palms.

"Not really…" She shook her head, "I thought I did, when Kouto— I mean, Fujisaki-san, first confessed and asked me out. He showered me in attention and was really sweet in public but the moment we started having any sort of time alone, all of that went out the window. So I realized that I just liked the attention rather than him, considering I apparently didn't know a single thing about him. Then again, no one did, really… Especially my mom." Hiyori let out a loud, drawn out sigh, "She still likes him and she still always answers the phone when he calls the house."

Yama frowned, "You have his number blocked on your cellphone though, right?"

She nodded, "Yeah, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he just calls me from some other number. Or even worse, just shows up here… because I doubt my mom will hesitate to give him my information."

"What does your dad think about him?" Ami asked, "Can he do anything to stop her from doing that?"

"He doesn't like him either, thank goodness. But Mom has a mind of her own and Dad's always pretty busy with the hospital, so unfortunately he can't do a whole lot if he's not home to stop it. He's hoping I'll meet someone here so Mom will finally leave it alone." She gave a small smile before it turned back into a frown, "But even he's expecting someone who's a doctor or something like that, you know."

Ami's shoulders fell but she gave a reassuring smile, "Well, your parents of course are going to want you to live a stable and comfortable life and have their own ideas about what that means. But in the end, it's your life, so don't worry about their opinions too much." She stood up, "And don't overthink about how you feel towards Ametsuchi-san, you're probably taking the best approach—just letting things happen naturally. Yama's just a little over excited for you, that's all."

Yama pouted, but admitted, "Yeah, I guess so. Sorry."

"That's okay." Hiyori flashed a grin to both of them before standing up as well, "So, speaking of being over excited, Yama… You've pretty much only asked me about this dinner for the past few days. What are we even supposed to be doing tomorrow night?"


	4. Nervous

_Good Enough_

After the chaos following Yama's Friday night plans, Hiyori actually looked forward to the school week and the calm that was promised with it. They'd had fun, of course, but she was just exhausted from spending half the night wandering around the city to check out various places until they found one they all agreed on. They'd eventually decided on trying out karaoke, which actually turned out to be a hidden talent for Ami. Hiyori and Yama could carry a tune decently enough, but Ami was on another level, and they teased and complimented her repeatedly.

By the time they made it back to their dorm, it was definitely way past their assigned "curfew". However, Hiyori had discovered shortly into freshman year that the curfew didn't really have any real consequences to it. It was a giant relief at the time especially, considering she'd been on the verge of tears on the walk back despite Yama's constant reassurance. She wasn't one to stay out late very often anyway, but it was nice to know she had that freedom if she wanted to use it.

Of course, if her mother or father knew, they probably wouldn't have been too happy about her living there. So she kept that information to herself.

Saturday was relatively quiet, especially considering she used a good portion of the day to sleep in, while she used Sunday to finish up her homework as well as to starting to compile worksheets and other things for whenever she would start tutoring. She'd sent her class schedule to Yato in an email late Thursday night and he'd sent her a quick email in response saying thanks and that he'd get back to her, but other than that she'd yet to hear from him all weekend. But finally, after dinner, she saw an email in her inbox asking if late Tuesday afternoon was okay or if it was too short notice. After she replied that it was fine and that she'd already been preparing, he sent another email asking her to meet around the fountain after her last class so he could walk her to his apartment.

Upon telling Yama and Ami this, she was questioned with a frown, "You're absolutely _sure_ this kid exists and he's not trying to do anything weird, right?"

"Of course!" She answered automatically. Though the truth was she didn't really have any proof that Yukine existed, but there was no reason why Yato would lie about it, "Anyway, even if he did, you know I could easily beat him up!" Hiyori turned away from them and made a swift kicking motion.

"Yeah, I guess you've got a point…" Ami scratched the back of her head.

Yama, however, didn't seem to be fazed by Hiyori's display. She crossed her arms and looked at her seriously, "Just be careful, alright?"

Hiyori blinked and her shoulders fell, nodding and answering softly, "I will."

Now that her class was almost over and she would meet up with Yato soon, her heart started to race a little bit as she remembered that conversation. Until Yama pointed it out, she hadn't really thought much about going to his apartment. Despite her various observations of what had changed and didn't change about him, she definitely never considered that she would have to be _careful_ around him.

Maybe that was because feeling like she had a reason to distrust him was basically agreeing with her mother's judgement of him as a child. Or maybe it was the fact she knew exactly what sort of guys to distrust thanks to Fujisaki. Though he was probably the reason as to why Yama was concerned for her in the first place. But Yato seemed to be a relatively open book whenever she asked questions, no matter how personal or difficult. Fujisaki, on the other hand, would always change the subject as quickly as possible if she approached a subject that he disagreed with. And if she brought it up enough, he would get angry with her and demand that she drop it.

Fujisaki was definitely a liar as well, and he was always very calculated with his answers. That wasn't the case for Yato either; in fact, he actually tended to babble, especially when talking about Yukine. But it was babbling in an affectionate way, like he couldn't say enough rather than not knowing what to say. And his expressions—she'd watched them so closely in amusement while he was talking. Unless he was one of the best undiscovered actors in Japan, she was sure those were all genuine.

Despite reassuring herself, she couldn't quite shake the slight nervousness as she walked out of the class room and towards where the fountain was. It didn't take long for her to spot him at a small metal table just a few feet away from it, his hair tied up in a small ponytail and his fingers moving quickly across the keyboard as he worked on something. There were a few other people hanging around the fountain as well, two girls eating what looked like an early dinner and a few others who had their faces buried in either laptops, books, or their cell phones.

"H-hey." She greeted awkwardly with a small smile. He continued working until she raised her voice, "Yato? Hello?"

He looked up with a surprised expression, "Oh, hey." He shut his laptop, "Sorry, I've just heard it a thousand times in the past thirty minutes when it _wasn't_ directed towards me, so I started tuning it out."

"It's okay." She answered, adjusting the straps of her bag on her shoulder.

"Ready to go, then?" He asked as he started to shove all of his things down into his backpack.

Hiyori nodded, "Yeah, sure."

He stood up and put his backpack straps over his shoulders and started walking, "Since it's still a little bit early, even after we get there it'll probably be half an hour or so before Yukine gets home from school. I can give you a grand tour of the apartment in the meantime, but it'll probably take a whole ten seconds. So hopefully you've got some of your own stuff you can work on." Yato flashed a small grin in her direction and she laughed.

"That's okay. Um, yeah, I've got a little bit of homework I can do." She nodded, "I try to stay a little bit ahead of the classwork so I don't get overwhelmed."

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "I hardly have the motivation to do work the night before it's due."

"Well, it's not like I enjoy doing it. But being ahead of the work makes it so I can buy myself more free time here and there." She brushed her hair back over her shoulder.

Yato's lips moved into a smirk, "Ah, so you can live your double life of partying all the time and breaking all of your parents' rules."

"Pfft." Hiyori rolled her eyes, but her lips pulled upward into a wide smile, "Yeah, of course."

"But really. Did that sort of thing ever cross your mind?" He looked over her curiously, "You just seem so… I dunno, perfect all the time."

She cocked her head and gave him an incredulous look, stopping at the street light.

Yato flushed, "D-don't get me wrong, it's not a bad thing. I was just curious." He bowed his head awkwardly, "Ahhh, I'm sorry. That was rude."

She was quiet for a moment until the light turned and they started walking again, "Well, we did agree that you could ask all of the questions this time." She flashed him a small smile and relief washed over his expression, "I considered a few things. But I always decided against it, because they weren't things _I_ wanted to do. So what would the point be?"

He tilted his head, "Didn't you get angry though? I know half of the stupid shit I did was because I was mad at something or someone."

Hiyori blinked and nodded slowly, answering thoughtfully, "Y-yeah, I did. Um, I guess I should say that I did plan to actually do some of those things in snap decisions. But I always backed out."

"Ah, so you are human after all." He flashed a small smile again, "You just had the sense to quit while you were ahead."

"I just found ways to deal with it. Like how I was telling you I did a lot of tutoring just so I could stay out later and not have to go home." She fiddled with the bottom of her skirt, smiling to herself, "Sometimes I would say I was tutoring when I was actually just hanging out with my best friend Yama-chan. If I haven't said it yet, my mom's not a big fan of her either."

Yato's lips had been parted, ready to talk, but he faltered as she finished. "Sorry." He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans, "It's good you're still close friends and that you didn't let it get to you."

"Just so you know, I didn't give up on you, either. I just couldn't really do anything about it at the time." Hiyori lifted her head, smiling sheepishly, "I barely even listened to my mom as she was talking about moving because I was so upset by the stunt she pulled at the park with you. After I quit yelling and it finally sunk in that we were leaving, I didn't talk for a few days. At least not to anyone but my big brother, since he was the only one who seemed to care I was upset at the time." She shook her head, adding, "I mean, I know my dad cared, but he just repeated the same sort of words. Talking about how I would make new friends soon and things like that."

He was left momentarily speechless once again and reached up to scratch the back of his neck. "Uh, thanks. Yeah, I just sort of hoped that maybe after some time had passed that you'd come back to the same park eventually. I thought about trying to find your house but I didn't even know where to begin to look so…" He trailed off, shrugging. Freezing in place, he reached out to grab Hiyori's forearm, "Wait, wait, wait. We're about to walk right past my building."

"Oh." She came to a stop and Yato dropped his arm back to his side as she looked up at the old wooden building. It was only three stories high, significantly shorter than most other buildings in the city, and clearly not as well maintained as others. "It looks… nice." She paused a little longer than she would have liked.

Yato let out a loud laugh as he led her towards it, "It's not as bad on the inside. As long as you keep the place clean and maintain everything well, it's fine." He started to pull his keys out of his pocket as he started up the stairs, lowering his voice a bit, "Honestly, the fact that everything is so old helps out in terms of giving me stuff to do and getting some extra cash. Landlord likes it too. I mean there's still a maintenance guy who comes around and does preventative care and big emergencies, but with me doing minor stuff here and there, that saves him money too in the long run."

"That's good then, that you're on good terms with him." She watched as he put his key in the door and twisted the door knob.

"Yeah." He nodded and pushed the door open, taking a step in and motioning her forward. Once she'd timidly stepped in, he shut the door behind her and started to remove his shoes.

Hiyori followed behind him quietly, noticing the entryway led straight into a hallway as she stepped up onto the floor. The walls were kept bare and it was just as obvious that the apartment was old as it was on the outside, but as Yato had said, everything looked extremely clean.

Pointing towards the several doors on the right side of the hallway, he explained, "The door closest to us is my bedroom, then there's the bathroom, toilet, and Yukine's room is all the way at the very back." He gave an annoyed sigh and crossed his arms, "He technically has the bigger room, too, even if it's not by much. Brat."

She let out a small laugh at that, "Did you let him pick, then?"

"It wasn't so much as let him pick as he ran into the room with a box of his stuff and spread it out everywhere so I wouldn't have a choice." He shook his head before turning to the left and starting to walk again, Hiyori following a few feet behind him. He waved between the small kitchen and the living room, "And this is the rest of it. Home sweet home; told you it would take all of ten seconds."

She watched him move over to the small table and take a seat on one of the cushions before examining the rooms a little more closely. There wasn't much in the way of decoration throughout the whole apartment, but in the living room they had a small shelf as well as an older box TV with a video game system which she guessed was Yukine's. The kitchen was also fairly simple with just a gas stove, rice cooker, and a sink to accompany the small fridge. It was also just as tidy as the rest of the house, save for a cereal box left on the counter.

Yato cleared his throat, causing her to whip her head back in his direction, "Uh, you can sit down if you want."

"Right. Sorry." She gave an apologetic smile and hurried over to the small table, sitting down on her legs and letting her bag drop softly onto the floor.

"I know it's not much, but it works. It took me forever to save up the key money and all that, so most of what little furniture we have came from whatever Kofuku and Daikoku had laying around and weren't really using anymore. But other than what they gave me, we haven't really gotten much else other than necessities. Plus I can't really hang anything up either or else I have to worry about damages whenever we move out." He looked down into his lap, seemingly twiddling his fingers together as he spoke, "So I know it's kinda dull but—"

She let out a small sigh before calling out his name, "Yato." As he looked up at her with curious eyes, she commented, "Don't be embarrassed. This is your home and you're working hard for it. As long as both you and Yukine-kun are safe and happy here, then that's what matters."

He exhaled and scratched his head, "I don't know if happy is the right word or not. But we live comfortably enough, anyway." He grabbed his backpack and started to unzip it, "I've heard from the neighbors that winter can be pretty miserable, though."

Hiyori took the hint and started pulling out her notebooks for school work as well, "That's true for a lot of places. Do you have a kotatsu?"

"Not sure how well it works yet, but yeah." He sat his laptop down on the table and flipped it open.

"At least you've got something to get started. And who knows, maybe we'll have a warm winter this year." She flipped open her notebook and glanced upward.

His lips pulled upward into a small smile, "Psh. I doubt I'd ever that lucky."

"You never know." She shrugged her shoulders before looking back down at her homework, clicking her mechanical pencil a few times.

The apartment stayed relatively quiet after that aside from the scratching of Hiyori's pencil against the paper and Yato's constant typing. Though, after a while, he thought to ask her if she wanted water or anything else to drink. "I should have asked right when you got here." He put a hand up to his face as he stood up, "If you couldn't tell, I don't usually have guests. Yukine's friend Suzuha-kun has come over once or twice, but they're usually only here for a few minutes before leaving again."

He wandered over to the kitchen before she could respond, so she just watched him curiously from the table. The past two times she'd seen him, and even on the walk here, he'd been relatively confident. But ever since they entered his house, he seemed to be nervous and anxious over every little thing.

As he started to turn back around, she quickly looked back at her notebook and only looked up again once he'd sat the glass of water down in front her. "Thanks." She gave a small smile.

"You're welcome." He put his down as well and started to sit before they both heard a key in the door.

Hearing a slight creak and the door closing again first, a young voice called out, "I'm home!"

"Welcome home!" Yato called out as he rounded the corner into the hallway. As Hiyori stood up and waited for them to come back into the living room, she heard him say, "Your tutor's waiting in the living room."

"What the hell! I told you to tell them not to come. I'm fine!" She heard Yukine answer in a rough whisper.

Yato immediately snapped back, "Not really your choice, kid. Now stop being an impolite asshole and go introduce yourself." She heard stomping across the wooden floor before she heard Yato's voice again, "Oh no you don't."

"Let go of me!" The younger boy's voice came out in an annoyed huff, "Your disgusting sweaty hands are going to ruin my shirt! And I'm not going to sit around and let someone—"

She finally caught sight of them as Yato pushed Yukine into the room by his shoulders. His bright blonde hair caught her attention first and shortly after she noticed the unique orange shade of his eyes, currently tightened into a glare.

" _Yato_! I swear I'm—" Yukine froze as he realized someone was watching them and his eyes moved to Hiyori angrily. But once he caught sight of her, his eyes widened in surprise and his arms fell back to his side as a blush started to take over his face.

"I'm Iki Hiyori. Nice to meet you, Yukine-kun." She gave a small bow of her head, looking up to notice Yato was now watching Yukine with a smirk on his face.

* * *

 **A/N: Not nearly as much Yukine as I thought there would be but my writing almost never actually goes according to plan so I guess I shouldn't be that surprised. But next chapter, I swear hahah.**


	5. Beginnings

**This chapter was a little bit more difficult for me, I guess cuz this is the first time I've wrote Yukine interacting with Hiyori for the first time. But despite me having a ton of planning, this chapter only had a few details laid out beforehand so that probably wasn't helpful either. Anyways, I hope you like it!**

 _Good Enough_

Yato give him another tiny shove forward and Yukine stumbled a bit, making a few small sounds as he tried to keep his balance. Once he'd caught himself, he gave his own bow, "N-nice to meet you, t-too…"

She gave a small smile before motioning towards her things on top the table, "Today will be pretty short and simple. I just brought a few worksheets so I can get an idea of where you are with everything. I've already picked out some materials just based on you being in your first year of high school, but this way I can plan out the lessons to really focus on your specific weak points rather than just going over everything broadly. We'll start going more in depth on Thursday once I put a few more things together. Does that sound okay, Yukine-kun?" She looked back up at him with a tilt of her head.

"Um. Yeah, that sounds fine." He nodded and sheepishly made his way over to the table, Yato following not far behind him.

As Yukine sat down, Hiyori shot Yato a curious glance, but he only flashed a quick smile in return before sitting down in front of his computer and returning to his work. She sat back down as well, pulling the worksheets out of the binder she had designated for Yukine and passing them to him, "Here you go! I can help if the instructions don't make sense for whatever reason, but otherwise I just want you to try your best. Since this is just for me to look at, don't feel bad about leaving anything blank if you need to."

He took the papers gently before laying them down on the table, his expression growing nervous as he flipped through the pages, "Alright. …Thanks."

"Good luck, Yukine~" Yato elbowed his side teasingly.

Yukine barely looked up, but it was clear he was glaring and that a blush was creeping its way back into his cheeks. " _Shut up._ " He answered sharply.

Yato let out a small laugh before turning his attention to her, "Hey, Hiyori, if you want I can walk you here on Thursday. I get out of my last class at four, so it's no big deal to wait for a little bit again."

"Sure, if you don't mind." She nodded and gave him an appreciative smile.

Yukine paused and looked between them with confusion, stopping at Yato, "You're on a first name basis?"

"We knew each other when we were kids." Hiyori answered for him and as Yukine looked back to her, she gave another sweet smile, "You can call me just Hiyori too, if you'd like."

"T-thanks." He stiffened before looking back down towards his work, his pencil hovering over the next question as he read through it.

She continued smiling, looking back down to her homework as well. A few minutes later, she finished the last few equations and she exhaled lightly as she considered what else she could work on. She tapped her pencil's eraser against the table for a few seconds before she decided on working on adding more of the things from her syllabi to her planner.

After she had pulled it out and started to flip through it, she heard Yato comment loudly, "Damn, you keep yourself busy."

Hiyori blinked and looked up, nudging the planner just a bit closer to herself as she realized he must have saw how much writing she had on each page. Sheepishly, she answered, "Oh, well, um. I kind of use it as a sort of journal too. Sometimes I'll write stuff down that happened that day; like if one of my friends said or did something funny and I wanted to remember. Or if something unique happened that day, things like that."

"Hmm." He hummed in response, seemingly intrigued, "That's actually pretty cool."

"Thanks," She tucked some of her hair behind her ear, looking back down, "It's just something I started doing once I started middle school, though I'm not really sure why. But it's always really fun to look back over everything right before starting a new school year."

He scratched his head, giving a small laugh, "I think the only thing I look forward to at the end of the school year is trashing all of my old stuff so I don't have to look at it anymore."

Hiyori's eyes widened, "Don't you hang on to things in case you need it again for reference later on?"

"Er," He hesitated, "Sometimes, but not really."

"I mean you don't have to save _everything_ , but hanging on to some things like notes always helps when you go back and cover the same subject and expand upon it." She gripped the sides of her planner, almost in disbelief.

"Told you." Yukine mumbled and Yato gave a small groan before elbowing his side. He looked up with a glare, "Hey!"

Her eyes brightened and her grip lessened on her planner, "So you hang on to your old school things then, Yukine-kun?"

"Yeah." He nodded and tilted his head towards Yato, "This guy always tells me all I'm doing is cluttering up my room." The older boy let out another groan and sank down farther into his seat.

Hiyori raised her hands and gripped them together, delighted, "That's great! That'll definitely make it easier while we study together." She turned back to Yato, "Just think of it this way… It could help save a lot of time and effort instead of having to learn everything again from scratch if you don't remember it well."

He let out a small sigh and admitted, "Okay, well maybe I was wrong about hanging on to it in general." Looking down at Yukine, he pointed a finger, "But your room _is_ cluttered as hell cuz you just leave stuff laying around everywhere. I don't know how you'd even find something when you need it; maybe if it was _organized_ , that'd be one thing."

Yukine's face started to grow red and he ground his teeth together, returning to his work with no response other than a few inaudible grumbles.

Hiyori gave him a small sympathetic smile even though she was sure he probably wouldn't see it. After she had made a few more notes in her planner, she noticed the sound of Yato's rapid typing had stopped. Glancing upward, she saw him staring at the computer screen with a bored expression and resting his face against an open palm. "Are you reading something or did you finish all your work already?"

"Hm?" He blinked and looked over to her before smiling sheepishly, "Oh, yeah. I finished so I'm just scrolling through some stuff." His eyes moved back to his computer, "I've still got a thing or two I have to do on paper rather than the computer but eh… I'm gonna take a break until after dinner. Yukine'll probably be done soon, so I don't want to start on something and stop half way through so I can walk you back to campus."

Hiyori waved her hands rapidly and shook her head, "You don't have to do that!"

"I don't want you taking a wrong turn and getting lost." He answered in a teasing tone, before continuing more seriously, "I know the sun's still up and you've probably got a GPS on your phone, but it would just make me feel better."

"Tsch." Yukine made a small noise before laying his pencil down and watching for Hiyori's reaction.

Her eyes flickered downward, "O-okay."

"Besides, you're old enough to get dinner started and cook a little bit, right, Yukine?" She looked up to see him ruffling the boy's hair, though Yukine quickly shoved his arm away. "It'll be good practice for when you're a poor college student like me." Yato added as he retracted his hand back into his lap.

"We wouldn't be so poor if you would just let me get a job." Yukine crossed his arms and turned his head away, staring out towards the small deck used for hanging laundry.

Yato sighed, "If you want a job so badly, get one during summer break. But right now you need to focus on school. It's a lot easier for me to have a job in college because I'm not at school all day like you are."

"My friends—" He turned back around, but Yato interrupted him.

"Your friends help out their families—and you basically do the same thing at Kofuku and Daikoku's. It'd be one thing if we still lived with them, but you're not doing anything but school now and you're still having some issues. So I—"

"What about after I get my grades up?" Yukine nodded towards Hiyori and her lips parted in surprise, suddenly being brought into the conversation.

Yato stared for a moment before saying, " _Maybe_. But I'm not making any promises." He motioned towards the papers on the table, "So are you done with those? Don't make Hiyori hang around and listen to our issues when she's probably got stuff to do."

"I-it's okay, really." She let out a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, I'm done." He pushed the papers towards her without looking up, "Sorry."

She waved her hands again, "It's fine, I swear. Really, the only plan I have is just finding something to eat once I get back to my dorm and starting to look through your work afterward." After gathering all the papers together and flipping through them to make sure he hadn't accidentally missed a page, she sorted them away into her binder and looked back up to him with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work, Yukine-kun. I'll do my best on grading this and then we'll start more seriously on Thursday."

"Alright, thanks." Yukine answered in a mumble, staring down at the table until Yato cleared his throat. Looking up to a stern stare, he looked back to her and gave a slight bow and spoke clearly, "Thank you, Hiyori."

She let out a small laugh, "You're welcome."

As she started to get the rest of her things together, Yato asked, "So, you pretty much ready to go, then?"

"Yeah, I think so." She nodded, standing up and sliding the straps of her bag onto her shoulder before looking down at Yukine again and giving her own bow, "It was nice to meet you, Yukine-kun. I'll see you soon."

"Nice to meet you too." He flushed once again, barely looking up at her.

With that, she followed Yato back to the front hallway, though she urged him again as she slipped on her shoes, "You really don't have to walk me back, it's okay."

"I want to. And I'll just walk you back to campus, okay? Just till I know you're somewhere familiar, I guess." He pulled the front door open and held it, waiting for her to exit first.

"Alright, if you insist." She gave in as she moved past him, lingering just outside the door until he stepped out as well.

Closing the door, he reaffirmed with a laugh, "Yeah, I insist." Starting down the stairs, he asked, "So what did you think of Yukine?"

She grinned as she trailed behind him, "You two may not be related, but you're definitely a family. It's actually really fun watching the two of you."

Yato gave a small smile and scratched the back of his neck, "Good to know, but I meant like… student wise."

Hiyori covered her mouth reflexively as her lips formed an 'o' shape in embarrassment, "Right, right, of course." She lowered her hand, feeling her face grow warm, "He's a little shy, and I guess a little stubborn, at least with you. But just glancing at the work he did and from what you've said, there's no doubt he's definitely a smart kid, we just have to work on those trouble areas."

"He's mostly only shy around girls and even after the shyness wears off, I'm sure he'll still be a perfect little angel for you." He turned his head back to look at her as they made their way their way back to the street, " _But_ , even if he ever is stubborn, I know _you're_ stubborn enough to put him in his place if you need to. So I got really lucky with you as a tutor, to be honest." He glanced at her as she moved to his side and the started walking down the street, "But, uh… speaking of. You still didn't say what exactly you want me to do in order to pay you back for this."

She shrugged, looking up at the sky for a moment, "I still don't know yet." It was still relatively bright out and the air itself was still very warm and humid, but there was just a little bit of pink starting to show on the horizon.

She looked back down to see his blue eyes watching her suspiciously, "I'm not gonna have to run personal errands for you for the rest of my life or something, am I?"

"No, no. Nothing like that." She shook her head with a smile, "I honestly don't need anything. But if you _really_ want me to name something, then I have to think about it for a while."

He let out a breath of air, "You're weird, Hiyori."

She paused before letting out, "And so are you."

"Touché." He answered automatically, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Letting out a small laugh, she commented, "You know, Yato… You never really asked me many questions even though it's supposed to be your turn."

"Shit, you're right. Uhhhhh…" He raised an eyebrow, wracking his brain for any sort of ideas, "I dunno. It's hard to think of things on the spot. Can I just carry over my turn into Thursday?"

"No, because then it should be my turn again." Hiyori raised her hands, "It's not my fault if you waste yours."

"You really are strict." He flashed a grin, coming to a stop at the light.

She looked down at her feet, smiling to herself, "I guess so."

"Well, I'm glad it seems like you're going to be a good match for Yukine. It would have really sucked if I had to fire you, especially since you're working for free and all—sort of, anyway." He corrected himself with a shrug.

She rolled her eyes, "It would be free if you would let me do it for free. And yeah, that definitely would have sucked." She gave another smile, but it was a bit forced this time.

If it weren't for her tutoring Yukine, would they continue seeing each other? Would it become awkward once they no longer had some reason to pull them together again?

He wagged his finger in front of her, "I can tell you did a lot of work for just _today_ and I can only imagine it's going to get even worse from here. So, no, I'm not letting you go unpaid."

As they started walking again, she let out a small huff, "It's really not that big of a deal."

"Hiyoriiiii," He groaned loudly before frowning at her and staring her down, "I'm gonna do something for you, whether you like it or not; even if I have to think of it myself."

"Well, it's easy to see who Yukine-kun gets his stubbornness from." She shook her head before raising her hand up to rub against her forehead.

"Nah, that kid was stubborn as hell from the start. But yeah, it's possible I might have made it a little worse." He admitted with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Probably." She giggled before pausing again, "Hey, I'll be fine walking back from here. You should go ahead and get home, the sun's starting to set a little bit."

He blinked and looked up, "Huh, yeah, I guess so."

"Thanks for waiting for me after class and for walking me, Yato." She gave him an appreciative smile, "I'll see you on Thursday."

"Right. See you, then." He gave a small wave and they both started to turn around before he called out again, "Hey, Hiyori."

She spun around curiously, "Yeah?"

"Could I add you on Twitter and have my turn still count until Thursday if I ask you questions there when I think of them?" He tilted his head, watching her intently for her response.

Hiyori blinked in surprise before letting out a laugh, "Yeah, I guess that's fair. My username's Hiyo."

"Hiyo, got it." He turned back around, "See ya!"

"Bye." She started to walk again, a smile still on her face.


	6. Realization

**It took me a while to get started but I pumped out this chapter pretty easily once I got going on it. It's pretty dialogue heavy so that's probably one reason why haha. I drop references to the manga here and there (like this chapter has stuff about Hiyori's brother) but nothing that spoils anything really plot wise, it's just sort of background story I guess you could say.**

 _Good Enough_

Yato had started off asking pretty basic questions after she'd given him her username, things like her favorite color and movie and when her birthday was. Eventually he moved on to more advanced things like asking her to tell him a funny story from high school, though she ended up texting him most of those answers as she didn't want some of her old classmates to see or they were things that she had previously only told Ami and Yama. When Thursday came around and Yato's turn officially ended, they decided to just do individual turns instead of whole days since they were seeing each other fairly often now.

Yukine had still been relatively shy as they started their first real lesson, but he started to open up the more they went along. "You're actually kind of strict, Hiyori." He admitted with a small laugh after she pointed out one of his errors.

"Oh." She blinked in response, not really knowing what to say.

He shook his head in response, glancing over to the kitchen where Yato had started working on dinner, "No, it's a good thing. Whenever Yato tried to help, I feel like he just gave up too easily. It's kinda hard for him to find more than one way to explain things so he pretty much sucked as a teacher." He looked back down at his work, smiling as he admitted, "He helped sometimes, but not much."

Hiyori smiled too, "It's the thought that counts, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so." He nodded along.

This time she also stayed for dinner since her tutoring session went a little longer than planned, so she got the chance to chat with Yukine a lot more casually. He and Yato ended up explaining that Kofuku and Daikoku actually weren't too far away, just out in the suburbs of the city, so Yukine would often go spend a few days with them whenever he had breaks from school so he's not wandering the city and getting into trouble.

"By not getting into trouble, I think you mean not sitting around this apartment bored to death." He rolled his eyes, "I wouldn't do anything stupid like that."

Yato's eyes flickered upward, "Oh really? How did I meet you again?"

Yukine flushed with a glance towards Hiyori, "Shut up!"

"She already knows, kid." He looked back to his food, continuing to eat nonchalantly while Yukine looked mortified, "Don't worry, I told her I was just as screwed up as you when I was your age."

"Wow, thanks." His face soured even more.

Hiyori bowed her head slightly, "Sorry, Yukine-kun; I was the one who asked about it."

"It's not exactly normal for a twenty one year old guy to be a parent of a teenager so naturally, she was curious." Yato pointed out with a quiet snicker.

Yukine's face had softened at Hiyori's admission but he quickly shot Yato another glare after his added comment. "You're my _legal guardian_ , not my parent. There's a difference."

"I feed you, buy you stuff, and tell you when to go to bed, so it's close enough for me." Yato took a drink of his water, "You can call me dad if you want to, you know."

"Yeah, right. That'll be the day." The younger boy huffed in response, returning to his food hastily, and Hiyori let out a small giggle at their exchange.

Yato hummed for a minute before asking, "So, Hiyori, while we're on the subject of families… What's your big brother up to? I don't think I asked yet."

"Well, he finished med school, but…" Hiyori paused, looking up at the ceiling, "He sort of went off and did his own thing."

Yato raised an eyebrow but Yukine was the one to ask, "What does that mean?"

She looked back down to see their confusion and answered unsurely, "I think he said he's an art director…? To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what he does. He helps out at small health clinics to get extra money here and there, but that's mostly because he has to." She let out a small sigh, "But yeah, that's why my mom's been even more overbearing with me; since my big brother sort of went against my parents' wishes."

"That's not _your_ fault, though." Yukine pointed out, his mouth now making a small frown.

Hiyori smiled appreciatively and shook her head, "No, it's not. It's a little bit rough, but don't worry, Yukine-kun. Things have been a lot better since I moved here and started going to the university. Now I only have to deal with it during the summer and holidays."

"Then your parents never come here to visit, either?" Yato asked curiously.

"Mm-mm. It's a long trip even by car and they're both too busy to really take time off from work. They visited once a few months after I first started, but that was it." She tucked some of her hair behind her ear, "I knew that's the way it would be when I picked to go here."

He took another sip of his water and commented, "So you got what you wanted."

"Yeah, the freedom to live my double life." She grinned and he laughed in response.

Yukine, however, was left clueless, "Double life?"

"Can't you tell Hiyori's an avid party goer?" Yato snorted.

"Uh," Yukine's glance washed over her momentarily, "No?"

He ran his hand through his hair, "It's just me picking on her because of how much of a goody two shoes she is."

Yukine rolled his eyes once again, "Maybe you'll learn something, then."

"Please, I've been a model citizen for years now." Yato ran a hand through his hair.

"Pft." He scoffed and repeated, "Model citizen, right."

"Okay, so I haven't been _perfect_. But—" The two boys continued to bicker till Yato suggested for Yukine to do the dishes.

"Fiiiine." He grabbed Yato's plate hastily and placed it on top of his before turning to Hiyori and hesitating, "You're done, right?"

She nodded and handed him her things, "Yeah, I am. Thank you, Yukine-kun."

"You wouldn't mind if I walked you home again, right? Especially considering it's dark and all." Yato rubbed his neck sheepishly.

She heard Yukine make a noise but when she glanced upward, he didn't seem to be paying attention to either of them. "Um, s-sure. Thank you." She answered just as sheepishly.

Yato looked up towards the kitchen, "You'll be okay, Yukine?"

"Yeah, I'm not five." He continued to look down into the sink, scrubbing the dishes.

"Oh." Hiyori came to a sudden realization and pulled out a piece of paper and pen from her bag, scribbling down her information as she called out, "Yukine-kun, I'm leaving my email address on top of your books in case you ever need any help with your homework!"

He turned his head slightly, glancing at her and acknowledging, "Thanks, Hiyori."

"You're welcome." She tucked her pen back into her bag and stood up, placing the paper on top of the books sitting on the small shelf behind her.

From that point on, she was pretty much in constant contact with both of them. She'd eventually ended up giving her phone number to Yukine as well, so she was pretty much attached to her computer or her cell phone during any given moment of her free time. Yukine tried to keep the conversations relatively serious but once they ventured into random topics here and there, especially once Hiyori found out they had a mutual love for cats, so she would send him cute videos whenever she came upon them. Her conversations with Yato continued to be all over the place, from her trying to explain some components of MMA to him ranting about which snack foods were obviously superior.

The times she wasn't talking _to_ them, she was talking about them to her friends either about what they had said or things that happened when she was over at their apartment for Yukine's tutoring sessions. And Yama and Ami definitely took notice.

"So you're going over there three times a week now?" Yama raised her eyebrows as they ate dinner together a few nights later. Hiyori had finally gotten into the habit of walking to Yato and Yukine's apartment by herself from campus, though Yato usually walked her at least a portion of the way home.

She nodded, "Yeah. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays." Yato worked most of the day on the weekends and partial days on Fridays and Wednesdays, so she mostly worked her schedule around his. Even though they were growing closer, Hiyori didn't want Yukine to feel awkward if Yato wasn't around. They'd both agreed three days was probably more than enough but they could adjust their plans as needed in the upcoming weeks.

"You know, Hiyori. If you're spending that much time with him, then you should introduce us!" Ami crossed her arms.

Yama nodded enthusiastically, "I mean, if you're just friends like you say you are, then it shouldn't be a big deal; just introducing your best friends to another friend. Riiight?"

"It's not a big deal, it's just that he's pretty busy." Hiyori frowned and looked down at the table, watching her phone light up with another notification, "I guess I could see if he could maybe meet up for lunch in between classes or something like that…"

"Great!" Yama playfully slapped her shoulder with a small laugh and she gave a small smile in return.

She did like the idea of them meeting each other, but she also disliked the idea of Yama and Ami potentially embarrassing her considering they pestered her about a potential crush almost every other day. ' _Then again, I guess it's only fair since Yato and Yukine-kun try to embarrass each other back and forth almost every time I'm over there._ ' Her smile grew a little wider and she reached for her phone, skimming over the messages she'd missed.

Ami tilted her head, "So? Are you going to ask?"

"Yes, Ami. Just hang on." She scrolled through the messages she had missed from Yato first.

* * *

"Nice to finally meet you Ametsuchi-san! I'm Tabata Ami." Ami greeted as Yato tentatively approached the table after he had spotted Hiyori.

Just as she had expected, Yato didn't really have much time to meet up with them; just twenty minutes in between two of his classes and part of that time he had to use to walk across campus. So they'd all ended up packing their lunches and bringing them to one of the tables near the fountain.

"I'm Akira Yamashita, and I—" Yama looked up from bowing and blinked twice, "Wait, weren't you in my math class last semester?"

Yato was taken back, "Err. Maybe. I didn't really talk to anyone, that class was right before one my usual shifts."

She nodded eagerly, "Yeah, you always sat towards the back!" He gave a sheepish nod in confirmation before she started to sit down and continued, "Anyway, you can just call me Yama-chan. Any friend of Hiyori's is a friend of mine!"

"Same here." Ami motioned towards herself before sitting down as well.

Hiyori copied them, sitting down and flashing Yato a small smile.

"Uh, you can just call me Yato, then, I guess." He murmured in response, looking down at the table.

Ami furrowed her brows, "Um, are you are sure? Not Yato-san or Yato-kun?"

He shook his head, "It's fine."

"O-okay." Ami seemed unsure but Yama just shrugged in response.

"So, Hiyori said you're a computer science major too." Yama waved her arm towards her as she said her name, "So maybe we'll have some more classes together!"

"Maybe." He scratched the back of his neck, "You're in your second year already though, right? I just started in spring and I'm still mainly doing gen ed classes at the moment so it'll be a while before I really catch up."

Yama leaned her head against her palm, "Oh yeah, bummer. Still, there's a chance!"

Ami looked over to raise an eyebrow at her, "A chance that you'll fail and have to retake a class?"

" _No,_ just a slight chance of scheduling luck in the more advanced classes." She dropped her hand and pouted at Ami, "I've been better about studying! This semester's gonna be completely different."

"That's what you said last semester. And you started off this semester talking how much more fun we need to have." She shook her head, "Doesn't sound like much of a change if you ask me."

Yama glared, "Hey, I said studying was important too! And having fun _is_ important!"

As her friends bickered, Hiyori laughed nervously before looking back over to Yato. She expected him to at least be somewhat amused by their antics, but he seemed off in his own little world as he picked at his food. Though the closer she looked at him, the more uncomfortable he seemed to be. Frowning to herself, she reached over to her purse for her phone and started typing from under the table.

 **Are you okay?**

She watched his eyes widen slightly as his phone vibrated before he pulled it out and flipped it open. His eyes glanced towards her and he seemed to relax as he typed his answer.

 _Yeah. I told you I'm just bad with people_.

She kept an eye on Ami and Yama before she discreetly moved to type her reply.

 **You do just fine with me. And when you're talking you seem okay with them too! But I'm sorry if you feel awkward.**

She caught him give a small smile as he read the message, though she wasn't sure if it was genuine or out of frustration.

 _Youre different, I know you. Somewhat anyway idk. Groups dont make it any easier_

"Are you talking to Yukine-kun?" Hiyori raised her voice, changing the subject and effectively confusing Yato for a split second.

He squinted at her before he caught on, "Oh, yeah. He's on his lunch break too."

"Are you two really close?" Ami asked curiously.

"Uh. I dunno if close is the right word, but we get along well enough." He averted his eyes again, but there was a faint smile on his lips.

"They bicker with each other all the time just like brothers." Hiyori added with a small laugh, "It's really cute." He looked back to her briefly and she could tell a blush was starting to form on his cheeks as well.

Yama folded her hands behind her head and leaned back in her chair, "That's nice. Sometimes I kind of wished I had a brother or sister growing up. It sounds pretty fun."

"Maybe an older sibling would be nice. My little brother is a terror." Ami gave a deep sigh, "At least I don't have to babysit him very much anymore. Hopefully it'll get better when he's older." She looked back to Yato, "I imagine it has to be even harder to take care of a teenager at this age; especially on top of work and school. I mean, sometimes we sort of have to take care of Yama, but that's not really the same."

He gave a small laugh and nodded, "It's no walk in the park, that's for sure. But uh, my friends Kofuku and Daikoku help out a lot. Whenever we have breaks I usually work almost the entire time and Yukine goes to stay with them since they're just outside the city. Except for summer, it was kind of half and half. He'd stay here for a little while and then there."

Yama's chair legs fell back to the ground with a loud 'clang!', "Wow. I can hardly take care of myself at this age, I can't imagine having to deal with a kid much less one that was in high school. But it's good you have people willing to help you out!" She elbowed Hiyori, "Like Hiyori!"

"Huh?" She blinked.

Yato's eyes fell on her and he smiled, "Yeah, Hiyori's helping a lot. I can already tell he's a lot more serious about his homework this semester."

She shrunk down into her chair a little bit, embarrassed, "T-thanks. I'm glad he's doing well so far."

"She's the best—she's the one who got me through high school." Yama clamped her hands on Hiyori's shoulders and she gave a small laugh in response before Yama kept talking, "I still think maybe you should considering becoming a teacher like Ami."

"I can always work at a teaching hospital for a little while, Yama-chan." She looked up at her friend with a smile.

She shrugged and let go of her shoulders, "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"Uh, sorry to interrupt. But I've gotta get going." Hiyori looked up to see Yato zipping his backpack and starting to slide backwards from his chair, "It was nice to meet you two; Ami-chan, Yama-chan."

"Nice to meet you, too!" They both answered automatically.

Yato hovered next to Hiyori's chair for a moment, adding sheepishly, "I'll see you tomorrow, Hiyori."

"R-right. See you, then." She nodded and he started to walk again.

Once he was out of earshot, Yama smirked and pointed out, "Hiyori, you definitely like him. It's _so_ obvious. Like, wow."

She squinted, though she could feel her cheeks growing warmer, "What are you talking about?"

"You got nervous several times, for one. Like just now when he was leaving, for instance." Yama nodded her head towards the directly that he had started walking in.

"Not to mention the fact you pretty much directly called him cute earlier." Ami added nonchalantly, "And you're blushing."

Hiyori's face got even hotter, "I did not call _him_ cute, I said it was cute when he and Yukine-kun are arguing because it shows how close they are! That's not even remotely close to the same thing! And the nervousness I—I don't know." She paused, trying to think clearly through her annoyance, "I'm just still new to being around him, I guess."

"Please, you practically talk to him more than us right now." Yama rolled her eyes, laying an arm on the table and leaning towards Hiyori, "You should be extremely comfortable around him by now. _Unless,_ you're starting to crush on him. You even said yourself before that you didn't know if you had a crush on him or not since you haven't really ever had one before."

Hiyori hid her face in her hands with a groan, "I guess so but… ugh. Doesn't that just make this way more complicated if I do?"

Ami let out a small laugh, "Well, yeah! But if you've got feelings for him, then you've got feelings for him. You can't just… force yourself not to."

"You don't necessarily have to act on them, but," Yama shrugged, "He seems like a nice enough guy. I know we didn't really talk to him much, but... you seem to really like him a lot and he didn't seem sketchy or anything, just shy, so—I approve. If you did want to try and make a move, that is." She flashed a grin.

Hiyori peeked out through her fingers, mumbling in response, "Thanks, but… I still don't know yet."


	7. Confusion

_Good Enough_

It made sense when she thought about; when she really _really_ thought about it. Her constant want to spend more time with him, her random pangs of worry about no longer having a reason to interact with him, and her eagerness to do almost anything she could for both him and Yukine.

Not to mention that he was… fairly good looking too.

She swallowed. Ami and Yama hadn't failed to point that out after she told them she would think about how she felt towards Yato, trying to point out reasons why it was 'obvious' she had a crush.

It wasn't that she didn't notice; she did, on the very first day she spotted him sitting on that bench. But when the memories clicked and she recognized him, those thoughts immediately vanished because it was _Yato_ and that was all that mattered. That was still what mattered first, but tonight alone she had caught herself staring at least three times.

Now that everything she did had been pointed out to her, she was hopeless, and she knew Yama and Ami were right. She did have a crush and it was pointless to deny it. But now she suddenly felt like she didn't know how to act around him. On the surface everything was fine, but she'd tense up, flush, and let out small involuntary squeaks any time he got even slightly too close.

Yato didn't notice, but Yukine did. Leaning back from the table and his eyebrows raised, he asked, "Is everything okay? You seem kinda jumpy today."

"Mmm, sorry. I think I could maybe use a little bit more sleep." She laughed nervously as she forced out the excuse.

Yato tilted his head at that, "You're not sleeping well? What's up with that? I know you're not staying up to finish work since you said you do everything ahead of time."

"My air con hasn't been working so well and it's been kind of hot in my room. And then when I can't sleep, I end up watching some of Touno-sama's matches on my phone and then I get really into it and want to keep watching more." It wasn't a lie, it _was_ something she'd done.

Last semester.

He scratched the back of his head, "Well, I'd offer to try and fix it but I know the dorms are pretty strict about who they let into the building. But someone should come soon, right?"

She quickly nodded in response, "Yeah, of course. I'm sure it'll be fine. I can deal with one or two nights with a little less sleep than normal, I just need to stay off of my phone; that's all." She waved off the concern of the two boys, inwardly cringing at her small string of lies. "A-anyway, I'm going to head back a little early today so I can start working on the review session for your upcoming test, Yukine-kun."

"Ah, okay." He gave a small nod, but she caught the frown that crossed his mouth for a split second.

"Are you nervous?" She leaned a bit closer to him to see his expression more clearly.

He let out a sheepish laugh and scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, I guess a little bit."

"Don't worry, I'll have you well prepared, I promise!" She smiled brightly, "You've already improved a lot so with a few more days of practice, you'll do great. Just make sure to get decent studying time on your own tomorrow, okay?"

"I will." Yukine smiled a bit more confidently, "Thanks, Hiyori."

"You're welcome, Yukine-kun." While she gathered her things together, Yato had already headed towards the front hallway to wait for her.

"Be back in a bit, Yukine!" He called out loudly as he walked.

"Kay!" He answered back, returning to his homework.

Just a few steps away from his front door as they started down the stairs, Yato scratched the back of his neck and started quietly, "Hey, um. I'm sorry about how the thing with your friends went the other day."

Hiyori waved her hands, "You don't have to apologize! I know Ami-chan and Yama-chan can be a bit… eccentric, I guess is the best way to say it." She let out a small laugh.

"I just noticed that you've sort of been acting a little strange. I mean, I know you said the whole thing with your air con. But I was just worried you maybe were upset about something." He placed his hands in his pockets, looking off to the side as they made their way towards the street.

"Of course not. I'm sorry I put you on the spot like that, but they absolutely insisted because I talk about you a lot." She blurted out and she began to regret her word choice as soon as his gaze moved back in her direction, his eyes curious. "You and Yukine-kun both." She clarified with a quiet gulp to herself.

He looked forward again, "What about?"

"Oh, you know. Just stuff that happened that day or say I laughed either at one of your tweets or while answering you, I had to explain the conversation somewhat." She looked off too, the nervousness starting to clearly leak out through her voice as her heart started to pound.

"Ah, I see." He nodded along, not saying anything more than that.

"You know, Yato…" He probably looked towards her after she called his name, but she didn't have the bravery to meet his gaze quite yet, "I think I thought of something to ask you about in return for Yukine-kun's tutoring sessions."

His voice perked up, "Oh yeah? What is it?"

"I was wondering if you could," She inhaled, trying to get whatever little oxygen that she could to finish her sentence, "maybe take me out to dinner?"

"Like the place we went to before or somewhere more high class?" She heard him laugh from her side, "Let me know if I need to save up or not."

Her words caught in her throat as she tried to answer back, the only thing passing her lips a small sound that sounded like a cough.

"Uh, Hiyori?"

She was certain now that he was looking at her, waiting for an answer, but she still couldn't lift her head. "W-well, I, um… sort of meant… l-like a date."

"O—oh…" She heard his tone shift completely and a gripping pressure took over her chest.

Finally she looked up, frowning deeply as she tried to apologize, "I'm so sorry, you don't have to—"

Now he avoided her eyes, reaching behind his head to rub his neck as he answered, "You're really great, Hiyori, but—I, um. I think it's better if we just stay friends, you know?" He hesitated, taking a breath, "It might make things weird for Yukine and I dunno you and I are both pretty busy with school and other things too, so…" He trailed off, not bothering to continue his sentence.

She took a breath and forced out, "R-right, I understand."

"Sorry." He sighed heavily and she caught him kicking the sidewalk from the corner of her eye.

Hiyori bit her lip, her frown deepening, "You don't have to apologize. I should, I—I should have known better than to be so blunt, especially after –I should have thought of something else. _I'm_ sorry."

"Don't worry about it too much. Let's…" He paused and finally looked at her, and she realized they had made it to the edge of campus. With a forced smile, he asked, "Let's just start over tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay…" She answered quietly and nodded, "I'll see you then."

"Right." He nodded as well before turning around and heading off, his head hanging down still as she watched him.

Her shoulders slumping and the weight on her chest only intensifying, she stared off into the street, ' _Maybe I shouldn't have done that…_ ' After a moment, she pulled out her phone to text Ami, who would likely be waiting for her. Though, thankfully, she hadn't told either of her friends that she intended to ask him today or that she was even going to ask him at all. She wasn't sure if she would even be able to do it, but now that she had and had been rejected, she was glad she chose to keep her thoughts to herself; at least for the moment.

 **Hey, Ami-chan. I just got back to campus but I think I'm going to have to skip out meeting up downstairs for dinner. I've got a lot of stuff to do for Yukine-kun's upcoming test and I've got to start preparing to study for one of my own too so I'm going to get started right away and maybe get something small to eat in a little while. I'm sorry! Hope I can make it up to you.**

She waited a minute or so, not wanting to be distracted by her phone as she walked since it was starting to get dark.

 _No problem, Hiyori! Good luck with all of your work!_

She smiled to herself.

 **Thanks, you too!**

She was a bit glad it was just Ami; if it were Yama, she probably would have corralled her into at least _"a little_ " time with them. But thankfully Yama had a later class tonight, so Hiyori was able to make it up to her room in peace.

Once she had flipped on the light, closed the door, and slipped off her shoes, she moved into the main part of her room with a soft sigh before crawling on to her bed and staring up at the ceiling. She'd been so happy every time she'd come up to her room for the past two weeks and now she couldn't help but wonder if she ruined all of that.

It could easily be extremely awkward from now on. Yato said they could just start over tomorrow, but would he really forget or be able to pretend this didn't happen? And now she would always have that moment tucked away in the back of her mind any time she interacted with him too. She also considered the fact that things might turn awkward with Yukine as well if he started to catch on to her and Yato not getting along as well as they used to.

She moved her hands over her face, her fingertips pushing back her bangs as she thought, ' _I've made such a mess of everything…'_

Even if they did manage to stay good friends, how long would that last before her feelings threatened to destroy everything once again? She should have stayed clueless and just enjoyed Yato's company for what it was worth instead of trying to dissect her thoughts about him and then starting to wonder what it would be like to actually go out on a date him.

She didn't imagine it really any differently than how she felt whenever she stuck around after Yukine's tutoring sessions and had dinners with them. But the fact that it did feel so natural was what had convinced her that maybe asking him wouldn't have been such a bad idea.

But he was right, it definitely is a complicated situation and other than the fact she'd probably spend more time with him, she didn't think much of Yukine's involvement in the whole thing. Of course, she'd never had to watch out for anybody in the same way that Yato did for Yukine, but she still felt naïve for missing such an important detail.

She let out a small groan to herself before reaching into her pocket for her phone, hoping that maybe reading through a few emails and scrolling through her social media would at least somewhat distract her from the whirling cyclone that her thoughts were beginning to form. The emails seemed to work at least temporarily, until she got on Twitter and realized her complete lack of notifications was thanks to the awkward situation with Yato.

Just as she was considering tossing her phone to the edge of her bed, she felt it vibrate against her hand and she caught Yukine's name pop up in the notifications at the top of her phone followed by a short chirp.

 _Did something happen between you and Yato? He's been weird ever since he got home and he won't say anything about it._

Her eyes read over the message and her frown deepened, exhaling before finding the will to answer him.

 **I'm really sorry, Yukine-kun. It's my fault. I sort of asked Yato on a date so I made things awkward between us.**

Her phone stayed silent for what felt like forever and she dropped her hand back down to the bed, starting to wonder if Yukine would just leave the conversation at that until she finally felt and heard her text message sound go off again.

 _idk what's up but he should have been ecstatic. Not sure why he's acting this way._

Hiyori blinked before slowly typing out her response.

 **What do you mean?**

 _Other than people he knows from high school, which I can count on one hand, Yato hasn't really opened up much to anybody in the three years I've known him. But he basically hasn't shut up since that day you two ran into each other at least until tonight. He acts different around you but it's not in a bad way. If he didn't feel the same way about you I'd honestly be shocked._

 _He just gets like this sometimes, I don't really know how to explain it because a lot of the time he doesn't even tell me what happened. He'll just be completely fine the next day or whatever. So I guess try to not take it to heart I guess is what I'm saying? Maybe wait a bit and ask again or something._

She read over his lengthy reply and though it made her feel a little more at ease, she also couldn't but wonder what else may have been going through Yato's mind that he didn't say. He was acting normally until she specifically mentioned the word date, so she was certain whatever was troubling him was because of her words, even if he did return her feelings like Yukine was implying.

 **Well to be honest Yukine-kun, one of the reasons he turned me down is because he was worried about how it would affect you.**

 _Then he could have asked me how I felt about it instead of just assuming._

Hiyori nodded silently, thinking, ' _That's true.'_ Another text message immediately followed.

 _Still even if that's a part of it I think he was using that as an excuse to avoid saying something else but what idk. I honestly don't care what you guys do as long as any pda is kept to a minimum in front of me cuz I don't really wanna see that. But I wouldn't complain if you were around here more. Having to deal with Yato all by myself 24/7 is no easy task lol_

She let a small laugh pass her lips and smiled as she read the reply.

 **Haha I'm sure, and I wouldn't mind spending more time with you too. Thank you, Yukine-kun. I feel a bit better after talking with you.**

She sat up and reached for her bag which she had discarded onto the floor near her bed. As she started to pull out the material for Yukine's tutoring lessons and his upcoming test, her cellphone chirped again.

 _I didn't really say anything though, I'm kind of just as lost as you are_.

 **It helped just talking about it with someone and it also helps a lot because you're someone who knows Yato well too. I didn't really feel up to saying anything to my friend Ami-chan when I got back and I was probably just going to keep it to myself for a while because I felt pretty awful about potentially ruining our friendship, for both Yato and you.**

She started to flip through his materials and got halfway through the first question before she heard her phone again.

 _Don't worry about me, I wouldn't get upset with you for something like that. If anything I think Yato's a giant idiot for rejecting you in the first place. Anyway I'm sorry for bothering you Hiyori. I'm sure I'm interrupting your dinner or work._

She giggled again before typing out her reply.

 **It's no problem. Definitely feel free to text or call me anytime you need to.**

 _Thanks._

With that, her phone fell silent once again and she managed to finish another question before she laid her head down and stared over at her desk. She did feel better. But did she really want to ask _again_ and leave herself open to a potential repeat of the situation like Yukine had suggested? She wasn't sure if she could bear it.

She hummed to herself, ' _Well…_ _He knows how I feel now, at least. If Yukine-kun's right and he is interested, then maybe I should just wait for him to make the next move instead. That way I don't feel like I'm pressuring him more and also I don't have to worry about doing that to myself again._ ' She nodded; that sounded like a plan.

* * *

 **Look, some actual movement to the plot XD. And things will only get more interesting from here, starting with next chapter (though maybe not in the way you'd expect). Thanks for all of the support thus far and hopefully I'll write the next chapter fairly quickly since I'm really excited about it!**


	8. The Past

**A little bit shorter than I would have hoped but I didn't want to get too far into the conversation at the end or else this chapter would have been incredibly long compared to the others lol. Hope you enjoy!**

 _Good Enough_

"So he still hasn't said anything to you about what happened?" Yukine crossed his arms as he and Hiyori walked through food court of the mall, both with a few small bags hanging from their arms as they headed back towards the entrance.

She shook her head slowly, "No. And I don't really want to stress the issue either, so… I'm just going to wait. And, Yukine-kun… I do really appreciate you trying to help me, but—try not to bother him about it either, okay?"

He hesitated before finally letting out, "I won't." He sighed heavily, "I promise."

"Thank you." She looked at him appreciatively, "I'm sure he'll talk about it when he's ready. In the meantime, I'm glad things are still at least relatively normal. It's a little bit awkward sometimes, but I expected it to be worse, so I'm grateful."

Yukine gave an awkward laugh as they walked out the doors, "Yeah, I've kind of cringed a few times myself out of secondhand embarrassment for both of you but, anyway—Thanks for getting me this stuff, Hiyori."

"You deserve it! You did so well on your test, Yukine-kun." She smiled brightly and clapped her hands together.

He flushed and looked away, mumbling, "T-thanks. I appreciate just getting out of the apartment, too."

Hiyori blinked and asked, "Yato mentioned a friend of yours before, um… Suzuha-kun? Don't you get the chance to hang out with each other on the weekends?"

"Suzuha lives near Kofuku-san and Daikoku-san's place so I mostly see him on breaks. Sometimes he'll take the train into the city, but he always has a lot going on with school and stuff. Plus his parents own this gardening shop, so he does a lot there too." Yukine explained with a smile, a little bit of sadness trickling through as he spoke.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She apologized, and fumbled on her next words as she didn't really know what to say, "So then, you haven't made any good friends here yet?"

He shrugged, "No, not really. I have a couple of people I talk to in class sometimes, but I haven't hung out with them outside of school yet. And uh, I only just started getting to know them right before summer break." He paused before continuing sheepishly, "Let's just say I wasn't too happy about having to move here at first."

She let out a small breath and nodded understandingly, "It can definitely be a very hard thing to go through, having to start at a new school and not knowing anyone. At least you're still somewhat close to where you were living before so you can still see each other regularly."

"Yeah. And it's not like Yato made the decision without talking to me about it, and he _did_ wait until I was going to start a new level of school to make it easier, even though he started thinking about it much earlier than that…" He looked off as he thought about it, "I dunno, I was just frustrated. That was kind of part of the reason why my grades sucked despite me studying, to be honest; it was hard to focus when I had a thousand things on my mind. But I did need the help anyway and you've been a great teacher, Hiyori, so thank you. Again." He gave a shy smile.

She smiled sweetly in return, "You're welcome."

Clearing his throat and gaining some of his confidence back, he started, "By the way, if you do ever need to persuade Yato for anything… he's obsessed with those Capyper things. Anything and everything related to them."

"Still?" Hiyori laughed loudly, "He loved them as a kid, too."

"Yep. He also had a thing for good luck charms, but I think he's finally growing out of _that_ at least." He gave a small sigh of relief.

She giggled again, "Interesting. Thanks, Yukine-kun, I'll keep that in mind."

Since Yato was at work until the evening, Hiyori only lingered long enough to make sure Yukine got into the apartment okay before continuing on towards her dorm building. The rest of the weekend was dedicated to getting ahead of her own work as well as a movie marathon with Ami and Yama. Which to be honest wasn't much of an actual marathon so much as them just hanging out in Yama's room and talking while _sometimes_ watching the movies. She had to start preparing for another test as well, but since she had just taken one in another class and since Yukine had just taken one too, her workload was relatively light for the weekend.

On top of that, Hiyori discovered an email when she first woke up on Monday morning saying that her last class of the day had been cancelled due to the professor falling ill, so she quickly shot Yato a text saying that he didn't have to wait for her and that she was going to just relax in her room for a little while before heading over to his place. It wasn't unheard of to have such light days so early in the semester, but she still counted her blessings that she could kick back and relax a little more than usual.

Her two classes breezed by quickly and as planned, she went up to her room and took a short nap for what felt like the first time in forever. It didn't last very long before Yato made it home from his last class and started to text her, but she was never one for long naps anyway so it didn't bother her much. Since she still had a little time to kill before Yukine's tutoring session after waking up, she decided she would go grab a coffee beforehand and headed downstairs. However, she didn't make it far before she heard a voice that made her stop in her tracks.

"Hiyori-chan, there you are! I've been waiting for you."

She cringed.

Why? _How_?

Well, she knew how; her mother had probably let slip what dorm she had been staying in but she was still in absolute disbelief that he would just show up out of nowhere.

She held her breath before turning her head slightly, greeting coldly, "Fujisaki-san…"

"Oh, come on. You don't have to be so formal with _me_." He grinned and started to make his way over to her, "So where are you heading? I assume your classes are done for the day by now, right?"

"I was going to get coffee." She mumbled quietly in response. She had always been a terrible liar, so she knew she couldn't get away with that and she also knew what he would say next.

"That sounds like a great opportunity to catch up, don't you think?" He tilted his head at her expectantly.

She didn't answer, but started to walk and he followed alongside her. "What are you doing here on a Monday, especially when it takes so long to get here? Aren't there classes you're missing?"

Fujisaki shrugged, "Ah, yeah, but nothing important. I've wanted to see you for a while and your mom has been worried about you since you haven't been talking much, so I took the opportunity to check in for her since I've got a more flexible schedule."

She exhaled, ' _Of course._ ' Stiffly, she spoke, "You know you don't have any obligation to do anything like that considering we're not dating anymore." Her phone chirped from her pocket and she quickly reached for it, grateful for any sort of relief from this awful situation.

 _You heading over soon?_

Yato.

She typed out her response slowly and carefully, looking up constantly as she walked to make sure she didn't lose her balance or accidentally walk into someone; especially Fujisaki.

 **Yeah, I just wanted to grab some coffee first. Should I get anything for you or Yukine-kun?**

He gave a pout at her statement, "Just because we're not dating anymore doesn't mean I don't care about you or your family, Hiyori-chan. Besides, I'm still hoping that maybe we can work things out."

"Good luck with that." She grumbled as she swung open the door to the café, not bothering to hold the door open for Fujisaki but he quickly caught the door behind her anyway.

She looked down at her phone again, seeing that she had a next text message.

 _Nah im not a big coffee person I only drink it when im desperate. Yukine likes it but id rather not encourage that habit since hes still so young_. 

**You know they have pastries and stuff like that too, right? I'm going to let my coffee cool down for a little bit before I go, so I'll get back in line before I leave if you do want anything.**

She frowned as she lied, but it would have taken at least ten texts or more to even somewhat explain what was _really_ happening.

"So how's school been so far? Seems like a pretty nice campus at least." Fujisaki started the small talk as they waited behind a few other people who were still putting in their orders.

"It's fine." She stared ahead, pretending that she was scouring over the menu even though she already knew exactly what she wanted.

"School's always been easy for you, huh? Then again, I guess I could say the same too." He gave an amused laugh and she scowled to herself.

There was no denying Fujisaki was smart. However, he used his cunning to avoid giving any sort of effort to sail through his classes as easily as possible. At least that was what he had done in high school, though she was sure he probably hadn't changed his ways since then.

After she'd gotten her mocha and he'd gotten his regular coffee, she was finally left with no choice but to actually look him in the eyes as he sat across from her. "Just so you know, I have a tutoring job soon so I won't be able to stay for very long." She stated very matter of factly, doing her best to hide the discomfort and even fear as he looked at her directly.

He pouted again, "But I wanted to spend time with you, Hiyori-chan. I came all the way here just for you."

"I didn't ask you to do that. And you showed up out of nowhere without any consideration of my plans." She answered bluntly before her phone went off again and she looked down.

 _No thanks. But could you stop by the convenience store on the way to my apartment and get some of those four cheese melty buns maybe? Ive been dying to have one but I completely forgot on my way back. But this way Yukine can have one too so it works out~_

Just as she started to type her reply, she got another message.

 _Ill pay you back when you get here._

She gave a small smile.

 **Really? That's what you want?**

He waited until she looked back up to respond, "Well, I can't really let you know ahead of time when you've blocked me on your phone."

Her face soured, "You know why you're blocked. And to be honest, I don't really want to be sitting here talking with you right now, either."

"Oh, please, Hiyori-chan. That whole thing was a giant misunderstanding and I don't know what it's going to take to make you see that. Anyway, the person you tutor is a college student too, right? I'm sure they understand that sometimes things just come up." He waved off her anger with a roll of his eyes.

"It's actually a high school student and his parents would be very angry with me if I were to cancel the session at the last minute." She practically hissed in response before her phone went off again.

 _Of course! It sounds delicious dont you think? You should get one for yourself too Hiyori!_

Fujisaki's calm demeanor finally broke as he motioned to her cellphone, "Would you stop texting when I'm trying to talk to you? Who are you even talking to, anyway?"

"It's none of your business." She snapped in response, pulling her phone back into her purse.

He groaned in response, "I'm guessing it's that Yama girl you were always hanging out with before. She always was rude and obnoxious, and it seems like some of her bad habits are starting to rub off on you, too."

Hiyori immediately jumped up, grinding her teeth together and absolutely livid, "Don't you dare insult her. And she's not the rude one, you are. I'm leaving for my tutoring session so I don't get fired; I suggest you go ahead and take the train home because I'm not talking with you anymore tonight."

 _'Or hopefully ever_.' She added to herself, trying to ignore the stares of the other customers in the café due to her causing such a scene as she stood up. She did pretty much the exact opposite of the things her mother always told her to do in this sort of environment, but there was no way she was going to spend another minute around him.

"But I barely got to see you and you've hardly even spoke to me. Just a few more minutes, Hiyori-chan. Please." He kept his tone soft and sweet, obviously trying to play on all of the people watching them in order to guilt her into sitting back down.

She was shaking, but eventually the word she needed finally fell past her lips, "No." With that, she quickly spun around and headed out the door, walking as fast as her legs would take her.

She looked behind her after almost every single block and even though she never spotted him, she couldn't help but feel like she was still being watched as she entered the convenience store for Yato's melty buns. As requested, she got one for herself, but she wasn't entirely sure if she felt up to eating it. She didn't even really feel like drinking her coffee any more, which only had a few sips taken out of it.

She did her best to try and cheer herself up as she made her way to their apartment, but after their initial greetings , it wasn't long before they both asked her what was wrong.

"You don't like it?" Yato frowned as he nodded toward the bun, which Hiyori had only taken a single bite of while he and Yukine had both already scarfed theirs down.

She blinked and looked at it, "Oh, no, it's good. I'm just... not very hungry right now."

"Are you feeling sick? You kinda don't look so good." He pointed out with a tilt of his head.

"I didn't want to say anything, but yeah. Even with this work, you've kinda been out of it, Hiyori." Yukine dropped his pencil on top of his papers, focusing purely on her.

She shook her head slowly, "No, I'm not sick. I just—I ran into my ex-boyfriend." She admitted quietly, pressing her hands against her temples.

"Oh." Yukine and Yato glanced at each other, both unsure of what to say.


	9. Secrets

**I had some more struggles with writing this chapter as I dug a little more into Hiyori's past. Fair warning that this chapter does contain some more serious subjects and to proceed with caution. Nothing is described in detail, but there are mentions of things much like how I went about talking about both Yato and Yukine's histories with child abuse in previous chapters.**

 _Good Enough_

"He was waiting outside my dorm building and saw me when I left to go to the café." Hiyori let out a sigh before dropping her hands back to her lap, though she kept her head down.

"That's… kinda creepy." Yukine commented before nervously adding on, "Unless you're still friends, but it doesn't really sound like you are."

She shook her head and confirmed, "Not at all. He was another reason why I specifically moved so far away for school. He shares a similar mindset as my mom when it comes to being around the "right" sort of people." She pulled on the hem of her skirt, still not willing to look up quite yet, "He seemed really nice at first but eventually it got to the point where he was trying to isolate me from my friends. There were some other things that happened too, but I don't really want to get into that."

She paused and took a breath, her voice slightly shaking as she finally met their eyes again, "A-anyway, my mom doesn't really know the full story either, so she'll still talk to him sometimes. His parents are friends with my parents too, so I didn't want to really deal with all of the fallout, especially when I had pretty much already decided that I was going to go to school here and wouldn't have to see him regularly. So that's probably how he found out where I was staying."

"H-hey, Hiyori." Yato reached out, though his hand lingered only halfway across the table, "You don't have to tell us all of this if you don't want to. And you seem pretty upset, so, maybe it's best if you skip today and head home. I'll walk with you the whole way this time."

"But—" Her eyes drifted to Yukine and he immediately threw up his hands.

"Don't worry about me, it's fine. If I have any issues and you feel up to coming over tomorrow, then I'll ask you about it then. But I think you should take tonight off, too."

Her shoulders slumped as she nodded and started to put her things back into her bag, "Alright. I'm sorry, Yukine-kun."

"Seriously, don't apologize." He put his hand over her binder to get her attention, "I'm sorry you had to deal with somebody like that. I hope you feel better soon."

Hiyori looked up and smiled gratefully, hugging her bag a little bit closer to her chest as she answered, "Thank you." Once he had withdrawn his hand back into his lap, she carefully slipped the binder into her bag before standing up and moving towards the front hallway.

"Uhhh, Yukine. Don't worry about starting on dinner or anything, I'll grab something, okay?" She heard Yato's voice as she started to slip on her shoes.

More quietly, she heard Yukine answer hesitantly, "You sure?"

"Yeah. I'll text you when I'm on the way back." She heard footsteps coming towards her.

"Kay." The younger boy answered back loudly and she finally saw Yato come around the corner.

He parted his lips to say something but she immediately repeated, "Sorry about all of this." She bowed her head.

"Cut it out." He waved his hands exuberantly before starting to quickly slip his shoes on, "Like Yukine said, you don't have anything to apologize for." Lightly tapping her on the back as he walked past, he moved to open the door, "Come on."

Once they were outside the door and started down the steps, she mumbled, "It just feels like he's starting to ruin everything again."

"I would like to say that hopefully he won't bother you again… but from what you said a few minutes ago, you broke up when you were still in high school, right?" Hiyori nodded silently and he stuck his hands in his pockets, "So I'm guessing he's one of those people who doesn't really take no for an answer and can't stand it when he doesn't get his way."

"Yeah, exactly." She answered bitterly, her voice beginning to waver a bit.

Yato turned his head towards her, studying her carefully, "Are you scared he's still there? We don't have to go straight there, we can stay here or hang out somewhere else for a while if you're uncomfortable with going back right now."

"He more than likely left since I sort of caused a small scene at the café, raising my voice and walking out on him." She stared down at her feet, admitting, "I guess I'm still a little worried, but I'd rather go straight there instead of trying to avoid it or I might get more anxious about it."

"Okay." He agreed before clearing his throat and asking, "Do you want to talk about it or would you rather talk about something else?"

"I'm not even really sure." She forced a small laugh, "I don't know what would make me feel better. I think I'm just kind of in shock. Ever since we graduated, the most he ever did was give my mom messages to tell me every once in a while and I caught him one time after he made a fake account to follow me with on Twitter, but other than that it's been relatively quiet. I've considered the possibility of him just showing up out of nowhere before, but I guess I never _actually_ thought he'd do it."

Yato let out a small sigh, "Must have way too much free time on his hands."

"It's like you said, he can't stand when he doesn't get his way," Her voice lowered as she continued, "So he pretty much always finds a way to get whatever he wants." She bit her lip, almost to the point where it was painful.

He took notice and started to speak, but aptly shut his mouth and tightened his jaw as he stared ahead, probably not wanting to pry into her business since he had been the one to stop her from talking about the details when they were still in his apartment.

She was partly grateful, because she wasn't sure that she wanted him to know. But now that it seemed like Fujisaki might become a lingering threat who had the potential to impact her relationship with Yato and Yukine if he were ever to follow her to their apartment, she supposed it might be for the best. It was something she had only told Yama, Ami, and her brother Masaomi before, but Yato had divulged a great amount of complicated personal information about his life right off the bat when they were still getting to know each other again. If he felt he could trust her with that information, then she figured she could definitely trust him with hers.

"Y-Yato." She stuttered and he whipped his head back in her direction.

"Yeah?" He blinked, watching her intently.

She moved slightly into an alleyway opening, asking quietly, "Can we stop for a second?"

He stopped immediately and nodded, "Of course. Anything you need, Hiyori."

"I just don't really want to talk about this while we're walking, even though I guess someone could still over hear, but…" Her shoulders tensed and she balled her fists at her sides, one tightly gripping her skirt as she looked down, "The other thing that I didn't want to talk about earlier. It didn't take long for me to realize he was starting to isolate me from my friends, but I just was sort of powerless to do anything about it. I tried to sneak in seeing them when I could get away with it, but for the most part he still had control. And as for the actual relationship, after the first few weeks, I basically became like a trophy, I guess. He was always extremely sweet in public and then when we were alone, I'd get chastised for anything and everything."

Her eyes finally started to water, but she kept her voice from shaking too much as she continued, "And I knew that was wrong too and I wanted a way out, but I just didn't know what to do. But the breaking point was one day after school; we were waiting on one of his friends to finish a club meeting. I didn't even really want to kiss, and then he wanted to do even more than that…" Her voice lowered to just above a whisper, "And… yeah. I'm sure I don't need to say much more about what happened. I always thought if something like that happened to me that I'd fight back, and I sort of tried, but it was so hard not to do anything other than freeze."

A few tears had finally slipped down her face, but she looked back up as her anger started to take over, "He keeps telling me it was a misunderstanding. He said that again today, and every time it just makes me want to scream. But I feel like I still freeze up every time I'm around him. I shouldn't have even given him the chance to follow me to the café today and I did. Giving him the chance to actually talk just made everything feel even worse and I only really managed to get away because I was trying my best to ignore him the whole time."

"You can't blame yourself for any of that, Hiyori." He finally cut in, moving a tiny bit closer to her but also making sure to keep his distance, "No matter what you said or did, it's _his_ fault. All of it. You've already stood up to him and that's more than enough. It's extremely brave, actually. And the fact that you've done it multiple times now is even more impressive." She only managed to look up at him briefly, but the concern in his bright blue eyes nearly burned right through her.

She bit her lip and nodded, answering, "Thanks. I just—I don't want to have to deal with it anymore. I wish he would just disappear, but I know he's not going to. But he'll also leave me alone long enough that I fall into a false sense of security and then he just shatters it repeatedly. And of course this time was the worst, since he was actually here in person. I always thought since it was so far away from home that this city would always be a safe place to be, but now…"

She started to sniffle again and he hesitantly reached out to touch her shoulder, "Hey, I know it's scary that he just showed up out of the blue like that, but you're still safe here. Any day that you're supposed to come over, I'll hang out in whatever building your class is in until you're done and we'll walk the whole way together, okay? And I'm sure your friends Ami-chan and Yama-chan will definitely walk with you anytime you need too. Plus your dorm building's got security as well. So if you see him, just go straight to them."

Hiyori looked up with a deep frown, arguing, "But I don't want all of you to have to change around your day to day life just to accommodate me. Especially you, you have so much going on already without having to worry about me."

"I stayed on campus to walk with you every time the first week, so it's not like I haven't done it before. I just have to make sure to bring my charger for my laptop and whatever I need to do for homework and just do the work at school rather than at home. Hell, maybe I'll get to the point where I'm like you and I actually get _ahead_ of my work for once." He raised an eyebrow and retreated his hand back to his side as she gave a small laugh, "Slim chance, but the possibility's there, anyway."

Her smile unfortunately ebbed away quickly, "I don't know, I still feel bad about it."

"Let's just try it out a few times and see how it goes. If you still think it's overkill, then I'll lay off." He tilted his head and offered a small reassuring smile.

"Alright." She agreed with a small sigh to herself, "Um, if you're ready, I guess we can keep walking now."

"Sure." They stepped back out onto the main street, both quiet for a few minutes until Hiyori felt the need to apologize again.

"I'm sorry for keeping you out so long when Yukine-kun's waiting on you." She lowered her head, "I guess I was holding all of those thoughts and memories in to the point where I had to get it out."

This time, he sighed, "I'm gonna start asking you to pay me 500 yen every time you apologize for no reason at this rate. We had those four cheese melty buns, remember? He'll be okay for a while." Yato stiffened, "Which, by the way… I'm really sorry I asked you to get those when you were going through all that. You really didn't have to."

"It's okay. You didn't know, and I didn't want to try and explain through text." She adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder, accidentally slightly bumping into his shoulder as they continued down the relatively busy street, "Oh, sorry."

"Don't worry about it." He answered automatically before looking over at her, "While we're on the subject of food… I know you didn't feel like eating earlier. But did you want to stop and get something? Even if it's just something small, like your favorite candy; something that'll cheer you up."

She smiled widely but shook her head, "Not tonight, no. I'll eat something small a little while from now, after I sit down for a bit. But I might be tempted to do that tomorrow when we're walking to your apartment."

"Yeah, sure." He scratched his head sheepishly.

They walked quietly for the rest of the way other than Hiyori giving a few directions once they reached campus, though she caught him glancing over at her a few times and she let herself stare curiously for a few moments whenever she did. At first she thought it might have been a look of pity or him constantly checking to see if she was really alright. But eventually she caught glimpses of disbelief mixed in with concern, as well as a generally thoughtful expression.

She honestly expected she would feel just as embarrassed and just as nervous as she did just a few days ago when she had asked him on a date, especially considering this was information she had told hardly anyone. It was something she honestly tried to forget even happened until she was forced to remember for whatever reason.

And yet somehow she felt better after telling him. Even when she had told Ami the year prior, it hadn't been like this. Despite the comfort she gave, Hiyori still somehow felt dirty after telling her for a short time.

She supposed it might have been the fresh anger and frustration towards Fujisaki that she was able to get her words out so easily. She didn't even really have to think, they all just sort of came rushing out. And he listened intently to every single word, staying quiet until she blamed herself.

He had even called her brave. Her eyes flickered up to him as he stared ahead, focused on walking.

Maybe it was because she knew deep down that he knew better than anyone else what she'd been through. The situations may have been vastly different, but Yato knew what it was like to pretend everything was fine when it wasn't. He knew the feeling of having someone you thought cared about you, and most of all, he knew the pain of unwanted and forceful touches.

It was enough to make her eyes start watering again as she came to the realization that he had dealt with what she went through as a teenager when he was just a young kid.

"H-hey, do you want to stop again?" He asked as he caught sight of her wiping her eyes.

"It's okay, really. It's just sort of a few left over tears from earlier. Besides, we're almost there, it's just right up the street now. It's that big white-ish building with all of those lights." She kept wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt, letting out a small forced laugh as she lied.

He blinked and looked up, momentarily distracted from her, "Wow, looks nice. I figured that was just a regular apartment building." He glanced back at her, "So, uh, none of those people hanging around are him, right?"

She stared ahead, carefully skimming over the few students in front of the building, "No, it's fine." After they took the final few steps towards the building, they both paused and faced each other. "I'm really grateful for all of this, Yato. More than I can really say." She hesitated before giving a slight bow of her head, "Thank you."

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, slightly angling his body away from her, "You're welcome. Listen, don't worry about inconveniencing me or anything; really. Just call if you ever need help with anything."

"I will." She closed her eyes and nodded, reopening them with a soft smile, "Is there any way I can convince you to trade places temporarily so I don't have to tell Ami-chan and Yama-chan what happened? It's going to continue to be chaotic for a little while."

"Nah. I'm sure it'll be good for you." He looked at his feet, "Sorry I didn't really say a whole lot. I probably could have been better about comforting you."

She shook her head, "You said just enough. Thank you, again." She motioned for him to turn around, "Anyway, you should get going so you and Yukine-kun can have dinner. Be careful on your way back."

"Just let me know if you don't feel up to coming over tomorrow. It's been a while, but I'll work on Yukine's stuff with him if I have to." He stuck his one hand in his pocket to pull out his cell phone, though he kept his eyes on her.

"I'm sure I'll be okay again by then, but yes, I'll let you know. Goodnight." She gave a small wave before turning around and heading for the front doors of her dorm building.

"Goodnight." She heard him answer softly.


	10. Distraction

**Hey everyone! Thank you so much for all the reviews/comments, kudos, and favorites so far; I appreciate it more than I can put into words. Updates might come a little slow for a little while as I have a lot going on right now. In combination with that, I've sort of been playing around my with my planning for this story and have been switching around the order of when I think certain things should happen and also scrapping some things entirely. But no worries, I have a lot of things planned and I hope you'll enjoy them.**

 _Good Enough_

As expected, Ami and Yama had practically glued themselves to her side after she had told them, both following back to her room until she finally announced that she needed to go to sleep. They left hesitantly, immediately making plans for the next morning to which Hiyori agreed both happily and reluctantly. She was grateful that everyone was so concerned for her safety and how much they were willing to do for her, but she still had the lingering thoughts about their inconveniences no matter how much she tried to quell them.

Going to sleep wasn't easy, not that she didn't know that would be the case. Once her friends had left her room, she laid in the dark while scrolling through her phone. Since the people she interacted with the most on social media had been with her most of the night, she found the distractions on those sites relatively minimal and so she quickly moved on to watching MMA fights. Though she only got through about two of those before she accepted the fact that those were only going to keep her awake rather than help her go to sleep, even if they were a good distraction.

Sighing, she closed out of the internet browser and stared at the dim glow of her phone before her thumb slowly moved over to her messages and she moved to Yato's name, quickly scrolling upward to avoid the messages from earlier that day when she had lied to him. When she was sure she had scrolled back far enough, she started to read over their conversation and found a mix of random questions and Yato's humorous commentary to her responses. Her lips curled up into a smile and she continued reading through until she started to feel drowsy and eventually let her eyes fall shut.

She had to admit she felt a wave of relief wash over her when she joined Yama and Ami in the morning. She spent at least ten minutes lying in bed considering if maybe it would be a good idea to take a sick day after her alarm had first woken her up. She still felt just as mentally and physically exhausted, but her friends' chatter helped perk her up in the slightest as they walked, Yama talking loudly about a new movie coming out that they just _had_ to see while Ami suggested one that was already in theaters in the meantime.

"I guess it has been awhile since we've watched one outside of our dorm building." Hiyori admitted with a small laugh, brushing a hand through her hair.

"I know this theater that's really cheap too. It's a bit of a walk, but I think it's worth it!" Ami chimed in excitedly.

Yama frowned and titled her head, "I don't know… I don't want to have to walk for an hour just to save some money."

Ami gave Yama a knowing grin, adding, "They've got _really_ great snacks, too. And it's not an hour, it's maybe like half an hour at most."

"Alright, I'm in." She clapped her hands together before looking over, "What about you, Hiyori?"

She flashed a small smile in response, "I'm not sure yet, but more than likely."

"Great! I'll see you both later!" Ami waved as she turned towards the building to their right, Yama and Hiyori echoing her goodbye.

Continuing to walk, Yama's eyes flickered down to Hiyori's, "Are you still going to tutor Yukine-kun today?"

Hiyori gave a slight nod, "I'm pretty sure that I will, but it depends on how my classes go. Yato offered to go through everything with him if I couldn't make it."

"That's nice." She answered before pausing and questioning, "So wait, is he decent with tutoring and he's just too busy or what?"

"There's that, but also Yukine-kun said he and Yato just don't mesh well when it comes to studying together. He said Yato has a hard time explaining things more than one way so it can get frustrating for both of them." Hiyori explained, staring up at the sky as she repeated the explanation that Yukine had given her before looking back over towards her friend.

Yama hummed, "Oh, I see." She looked back to Hiyori with a teasing grin, "Just not a natural born teacher like you, I guess."

Hiyori shook her head but smiled, "Yeah, sure. You could say that." Seeing the familiar brick building out of the corner of her eye, she started to turn, "See you in a bit!"

"Bye!"

Her friend called out loudly from behind her as she pulled open the large glass door and slipped into the lobby. Taking a sharp turn once she had entered the hallway, she quickly made her way up two flights of stairs and moved down another hallway before she made it to her classroom and slid into a seat two rows back from the front of the room. There were three other people there already, one blasting their music so loudly that she could almost understand every word that leaked out of the headphones.

Letting out a small breath of air, Hiyori reached into her bag and laid out her text book and binder on top of the table before reaching into her pocket for her phone to check the time. She quickly saw she had a little less than twenty minutes before class, but she also noticed that she had missed a text from Yato.

 _How you doing today?_

She quickly moved to unlock her phone, eager to respond but also not really sure what to say.

 **I'm okay. I wish I could have slept a little more maybe, but hopefully I'll wake up before class starts.**

 _Youve still got a few minutes right? Nows the time to catch a nap_

She gave a soft smile as she typed her response.

 **I wish. I had a real problem with falling asleep in class in middle school so I can't let myself get in that habit again.**

 _You? I'm shocked_

Hiyori rolled her eyes.

 **Yes, me. I keep telling you I'm not the model of perfect behavior even though I would like my mom to believe so.**

Her mom.

Hiyori exhaled and bit her lip, her thoughts traveling back to Fujisaki. Had he shown up on a weekend, she would have no doubt that he would have let her mother know about the scene she had caused in the café and how she had treated him. However, since he had clearly skipped classes, it was fairly uncertain as to whether or not the topic would be brought up.

One thing was for sure, _she_ definitely wasn't going to say a word about it to her mom. Not unless she had to.

 _Right sorry.. so um you werent able to get a lot of sleep?_

Usually he would have made another joke in return to her response, so she realized he must have made the connection too.

 **I went to bed earlier than usual but I still took a while to fall asleep. I think I got at least like 7 hours in though… I think I'm mostly just mentally tired you know?**

She waited a few minutes for his next response, lightly tapping her pen against her notebook paper until it finally came.

 _I've gotta leave for class now too but offer still stands. You dont need to come over today if you need some more time_

Just as she was about to start her response, another message came in.

 _There is something I wanna talk to you about later today whether you come over or not though_

Hiyori tilted her head curiously, reading over the text multiple times. If it whether she was coming over or not, then it couldn't have been a question about Yukine's homework. So what was it?

 **Okay. I'm pretty sure I'll be coming over but I'll let you know if I change my mind.**

Her phone went silent and her professor came in not long after that, so she tucked it safely back into her purse. She started out taking notes diligently as always, but her mind started to wander the moment the professor put on a video clip. And it only continued to wander through her next class and as she sat down for lunch with Yama.

"Something he wants to talk about with you, huh?" She took a bite and swallowed, tapping her chopsticks lightly against her lips, "Do you think it's about what happened yesterday?"

"Maybe…" Hiyori's voice lowered and she toyed with her food, rolling it back and forth, "I, um. I did end up telling him what happened in high school."

Yama lowered her hand back down to the table, giving her a soft gaze, "Really?" Receiving a small nod in response from Hiyori, she exhaled with a gentle smile, "Wow, you must really like him a lot. More than I thought."

She nodded once again before finally taking a small bite of her food, "Y-yeah. Well, aside from how much time we spend together, he's trusted me enough to tell me some personal things, so…" She trailed off and Yama nodded understandingly.

"He still hasn't said anything else about you asking him out to dinner, right?" She bent her elbow and leaned into her palm, "Maybe it's about that."

Hiyori quickly shook her head, "I don't think he would bring that up right now. He's already sort of walking on eggshells to avoid upsetting me anymore so I'm sure he wouldn't want to talk about something like that."

"Even if it was positive and now he'd tell you what you wanted to hear?" Yama raised her eyebrows curiously, "I mean from what you were saying, it sounds like he's being pretty protective. Maybe he's starting to realize how much you mean to him, too."

She shrugged, "Not any more than you or Ami-chan, though. But anyway, I wouldn't want him to start reconsidering because of what happened. It would feel wrong, so I hope that's not the case."

Yama leaned backward with a small sigh, "Yeah, you're right. Sorry, it was a dumb idea." She brushed her hair back, "I just really want it to work out for you two because it seems so obvious. If a while passes by after all this blows over and he still hasn't made a move, then I might have to pay him a visit."

Hiyori laughed nervously, "That's okay, really. But thank you, I appreciate the sentiment." Her smile lessened but a tiny one remained on her lips, "I hope it'll work out too, but things are fine the way they are now."

"What's your guess for what he wants to talk about?" She gave her an intrigued stare, tilting her head, "If you had to guess just one thing."

"More than likely to talk about walking to his apartment together on the days where we have a bigger gap between his last class and mine?" She shrugged once again, "I mean, I'm grateful for his offer but at the same time, it definitely is a big burden…"

Yama squinted at her, "What? You're worried he's gonna back out of doing what he said or something?" She looked down at the table, not answering, so Yama sighed, "Hiyori, he wouldn't have offered if he didn't mean it. Unless something came up with his job that he can't control and he has to back out of a day or two because of that, in which case me and Ami will figure something out. But seriously, stop worrying; all of us _want_ to do this. You didn't ask us, we offered. And if you want to deny that offer, you can. We'll just be a little worried, that's all." She reached across the table to rest her hand over top of Hiyori's.

First looking up in surprise, she exhaled before giving a small smile, "Thank you."

"Of course." Yama slid her hand back towards herself, slowly returning to eating her lunch and Hiyori followed suite.

It wasn't long after that it was time both of them to walk to class again, though this time Yama's building came first so Hiyori walked a short distance alone. Once she had made it into the classroom, she took a seat with a small sigh to herself. It was her last class of the day, but it was also the longest and she was far too eager to be done.

Halfway through the class as she was taking notes, she felt the faint buzz of her cell phone from her pocket. Finishing up the sentence she was writing, she discreetly pulled it out and held it under the fold over desk to read it over.

 _I just finished my last class. What building are you in again?_

She quickly typed out the name and sent it, not adding any more commentary so that she could return to taking her notes in order to not draw attention to herself and so that she didn't miss any important information. She felt her phone vibrate again, but she had to wait a few more minutes before she could afford to look down again.

 _Ok I'll see you soon_

Hiyori smiled widely to herself, her heart fluttering slightly at the thought of him waiting for her in combination with the curiosity she still had about whatever it was he wanted to talk to her about. Trying to distract herself, she dove back into her work with as much attention as she could muster, although it started to dwindle again as the end of class neared.

She hastily shoved her things into her bag when class had officially ended, though she took her time as she made her way down the hall and down the stairwell. A few of her classmates were heading back towards the front of building as well, so she hovered behind them and attempted to peek around them every few feet when she could. When her eyes caught sight of his, staring directly at her, she felt her cheeks flush and she gulped. Since Yato had always been deep into his work almost every time he had waited for it, it was a complete shock to see him up on his feet and watching for her.

"Hey!" He greeted warmly, raising his hand.

"H-hi." She answered sheepishly as she diverted from the small group she was following and walked towards him, "I hope you weren't waiting too long…"

He shook his head, "Nah. I just got to a good stopping point a few mins ago so I just messed around on my phone for a few minutes until I started to see people leaving classes." He paused and blinked before asking, "So, uh, wanna go ahead and start walking?"

Hiyori nodded quickly, "Sure." They had barely made it out of the doors of the building when her curiosity took over her shyness, "So… what is it that you wanted to ask me about?"

Yato raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement before scratching the back of his neck, "Oh, right."

She scrunched her eyes for a second in response, wondering, ' _He forgot?_ '

"Me and Yukine were gonna go to Kofuku and Daikoku's place Friday night and," His eyes flickered over to hers briefly, "We were wondering if you wanted to go with us."

Her lips parted in surprise, but Yato continued before she could react verbally.

"I just thought it might be a good way to get your mind off of things at least for a little bit. Daikoku's a really good cook and both of them are kind of over the top, so it's always an interesting experience to say the least. If you don't feel up to something like that, I understand. Just figured I should throw it out there." His hands were now in his pockets and as he finished, his voice had practically lowered to a mumble.

Hiyori nodded confidently, "Sure, that sounds really fun."

He looked back to her with equal surprise and she caught him starting to blush as well, "G-great."


	11. Memories

_Good Enough_

For how relieved he seemed to be when she had agreed to come earlier in the week, it was certainly surprising how quiet and tense Yato had become once they had gotten on the train. Interestingly enough, Yukine had also become more talkative than usual; pointing out familiar landmarks and places they frequented when they had lived in this part of the city. She nodded along, taking note of a few places with the hope that maybe she could take another trip with him later on since he'd been so happy to get out of the apartment the one time they'd went to the mall together.

With a brief lull in their conversation, she focused her attention over to Yato, "Everything okay? You're being really quiet. "

He blinked and shrugged, avoiding her eyes, "Nah, just letting Yukine do his thing since he's so excited to show you all this stuff."

"You were the one who really wanted her to come in the first place." The blonde boy fired back, a flush across his cheeks before he looked over to Hiyori with an apologetic look, "I mean, I wanted you to come too. It's just it was his idea in the first place and now he's making me do all the work."

She glanced between them, a small laugh passing her lips.

Yato leaned back and closed his eyes, waving him off, "I'll show Hiyori around when we get there. I'm fine with not reliving my usual haunts from high school."

"Embarrassed of your past much?" Yukine put his hand on his hip, staring at him intently.

"No." His eyes fluttered open and he slightly sat up, "I mean, I guess. I don't know. You'll understand when you're our age."

"Uh huh." The younger boy answered doubtingly, looking to Hiyori for a confirmation who just shrugged with another smile.

She left home for different reasons, but she supposed she could still understand where Yato was coming from as well.

"Almost to our stop." His voice pulled her out of her thoughts, her and Yukine both twisting their heads to look out the window.

Hiyori hummed, "Wow, that wasn't long at all."

Yato nodded as the train came to a stop and they started to move towards the door, "Yeah, they're pretty close. The only reason we're not there more often is just because of how much I work, really. But I think Daikoku likes me better when he only sees me every few weeks anyway."

"Yeah, probably." Yukine nodded in confirmation, adding in a mumble, "I'm sure I'd like you more too."

Hiyori flashed a smile but Yato stayed quiet until they had moved away from the more crowded area. Once they were in a more open space, he wrapped an arm around Yukine's shoulders and pulled him close, "You're definitely tsundere, but I know you love me Yukine."

The boy let out a high pitched screech as Yato pulled him in towards him and Hiyori quickly moved a few more feet away to avoid being hit by his flailing.

"Let go, let go, let go!" Yukine finally escaped from his grasp and let out a noise of disgust as he continued to shake his arms, tugging on his sleeve where Yato's hand had been resting, "How many times do I have to tell you your hands are disgusting!?"

"They're not _that_ bad!" He fired back immediately, though Hiyori noticed he discreetly raised his hands to glance down at his palms.

Yukine shoved his hands in his pockets and started to walk again, leading the way with a mumble, "Keep telling yourself that."

Yato gave a small growl in response until he glanced to his side and caught sight of Hiyori, "Uh, it's about a ten minute walk from here." He looked away and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

"Okay." She nodded and followed along, the trend from the train continuing as Yato mostly stayed quiet while Yukine pointed out various things to her after he'd gotten over his annoyance towards the older boy.

Eventually they came upon a relatively modest house with a small wooden fence surrounding the front yard. Yukine picked up his pace slightly, rushing to push open the gate and calling out loudly, "We're here!"

By the time she and Yato had made it through the gate, Yukine was already almost done taking off his shoes and continuing to call out, "Kofuku-san? Daikoku-san?"

"They might be in the shop still, Yukine." Yato reminded him as they caught up, starting to remove their shoes as well.

As soon as he said that, Hiyori caught the sound of quickened footsteps before the door slid open and a girl with bright pink hair popped out, immediately latching onto Yukine, "Yukki, Yato-chan! Welcome home!" She moved to Yato who gave a small smile, lightly returning her embrace until she pulled away and looked over Hiyori curiously.

"I'm Iki Hiyori, nice to meet you." She gave a bow and Kofuku was smiling brightly as she looked back up.

"Can I call you Hiyorin?" She tilted her head and Hiyori blinked, surprised.

"Um, s-sure." She gave a nervous smile in return, followed by a squeak as Kofuku wrapped her arms around her tightly as well, nearly knocking her over.

"You can just call me Kofuku, mmkay?" She announced in a bout of giggles before letting a gasp, "Oh wow, your hair is really pretty, Hiyorin!" She reached up to touch it lightly.

Slightly blushing, Hiyori smiled, "T-thank you."

"You're overwhelming her, Kofuku." She heard Yato's voice from above her before she felt Kofuku being pulled away.

Kofuku blinked in surprise, admitting sheepishly, "You're right—sorry!"

"It's okay." Hiyori finished taking off her other shoe before moving up onto the platform with everyone else.

"Come in, come in~" Kofuku waved them in with a sing-song voice and closing the door behind him, "Daikoku's still working in the shop at the moment and I just started on dinner too, so you three can just sit down if you like."

Yato's face immediately soured, "You're working on dinner?" He asked doubtfully and Kofuku puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.

"I've been watching a bunch of videos and Daikoku has been teaching me things too!" Kofuku answered a whine as she continued moving toward what Hiyori assumed to be the kitchen, "Come see if you don't believe me!"

As they made their way into a living room, Yukine nodded towards Hiyori, "I'd wait here." He started to take a seat.

She looked over towards Yato, who didn't seem to disagree, and followed after Yukine. Just as soon as she sat down she heard Yato's voice ring out loudly, "Kofuku, you've got everything set on high! It's gonna burn if you're not careful!"

"It's fiiiiiiineee." She answered back in a uninterested tone before there was a pause in conversation.

Hiyori hadn't even gotten the chance to say anything to Yukine before Kofuku poked her head into the room, "Yukki, it looks like the shop has gotten pretty busy in the past couple of minutes. Can you please go help out Koki?"

"Koki?" Hiyori repeated once Kofuku had ducked back into the kitchen and Yukine had started to stand up.

"Daikoku-san. Kofuku-san has nicknames for pretty much everyone, as you've probably figured out." Yukine gave a small laugh, "I'll see you in a little bit."

"Okay." Hiyori answered, glancing around the living room once Yukine had left the room as well. Unlike Yato and Yukine's apartment, this house was much more cluttered but also homey. It was filled with warm colors, trinkets, as well as quite a few photos.

Feeling a little braver, she stood up and wandered over towards the photos curiously. Most were solely of Kofuku and a large, muscular man with slicked back hair who she assumed to be Daikoku. At first glance, he definitely did seem to be intimidating, but the way he looked at Kofuku in some of the photos was almost enough to make her heart melt; they were clearly very happy together.

Her eyes continuing to move over more photos, she started to catch a few with both Yato and Yukine. The first she noticed was one of Yato and Kofuku's high school graduation, both wearing proud yet mischievous grins. The next one she assumed was from Daikoku and Kofuku's wedding, as they were all dressed in formal wear and Daikoku and Yato both seemed to be extremely emotional which made her let out a small laugh. There were only two with Yukine, one which seemed to be either from some sort of party with everyone gathered around the table in which he wore a wide and excited smile. The other picture was of just him and Yato and was a little more awkward and definitely more posed, but underneath the embarrassment she could tell his smile was just as genuine as Yato's.

"Diving right into the embarrassing photos I see." She jumped from the sound of Yato's voice in the door way, immediately giving a nervous laugh.

"Oh come on, they're not embarrassing. They're really sweet." Hiyori motioned to the wedding one with a grin, "Especially this one."

His face immediately grew red and he looked away, "Y-yeah, we got a little emotional." Taking a breath, he added, "Thankfully those pictures aren't so bad. There's photo albums laying around somewhere that are worse—though I might have to pull them out at some point just to do the stereotypical dad thing and embarrass Yukine."

"So you take a lot of pictures together?" She took a few steps towards him curiously.

Yato shrugged, "Yes and no. Special occasions are the main thing but I guess Kofuku tends to take random pictures on her phone a lot. I do too, I guess, just not as much as her." He rested his hand against his side, "Plus we didn't really force Yukine into being in any at first cuz it was still a little bit awkward, so he probably gets the worst of it now to make up for his lack of pictures."

"So Yukine-kun—" Hiyori started before they both heard a loud wail from the kitchen and they quickly rushed in to find a small portion of food spilled on the floor, the skillet still in Kofuku's hands.

"And this is why we can't leave you alone." Yato sighed before ducking into a pantry to grab a dust pan and a broom.

Kofuku whined, "I only spilled a little bit! Most of it is fine."

"Everything okay?" The same man Hiyori had seen in all of those pictures came in through the back door, stepping into the kitchen.

Kofuku hummed happily, "Yep!"

"Barely." Yato groaned from the floor as he cleaned up Kofuku's mess, standing up again.

Ignoring Yato's comment, Hiyori caught his glance moving over to her, "Oh, you must be Hiyori-chan. I'm Kanda Daikoku, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." She gave a smile and bowed, Daikoku echoing her actions as well.

Scratching the back of his head, he looked at Kofuku and asked, "Hate to do this, but do you think you can come help out in the shop so the night staff can take over without any issues?"

Kofuku blinked and looked off thoughtfully as she placed the skillet back on the stove top before she asked, "Can't Yato-chan do it?"

Daikoku's eyebrows furrowed as he looked over to him, "I…guess so?"

"Wha?" Yato seemed even more confused.

"Me and Hiyorin can finish up dinner." Kofuku linked her arm with hers and pulled her to her side.

With Kofuku smiling up at Hiyori and Daikoku and Yato looking to her for a confirmation, she stuttered, "S-sure."

Yato took a step closer to her and searched her eyes, his eyebrows raised, "You don't have to, Hiyori."

She shook her head and answered more confidently, "It's fine, really. I don't mind."

"You heard her, let's go." Daikoku gave him a slight push towards the back door and Yato began flailing around in a manner similar to what Yukine had done to him earlier.

"My shoes are in the front of the house, I'll be there in a minute." He twisted out of his grasp and walked in the other direction.

Daikoku growled, raising his voice to call out through the house, "Hurry it up! People are waiting!"

"Yeah, alright." He answered back annoyedly, though Hiyori noticed he did slightly pick up his pace.

Lowering his voice again, Daikoku gave another bow, "Sorry about this. We'll be back in twenty minutes or so, hopefully."

"Dinner should be all ready by then!" Kofuku slapped his shoulder playfully, "Good luck to you three!"

"Thanks." He smiled gratefully before slipping out the back door again.

Kofuku pointed upwards towards a cabinet, "Can you get some bowls for me, Hiyorin? They're right up there."

"Okay." She nodded and reached upward and grabbed stack of three before reaching back up for two more, "Is that enough?"

"Mhmm. The side dishes can just go on plates, but we'll get those in a few minutes when we've got more room on the counter." Kofuku stirred the contents of a pot and a skillet before turning back around and locking her eyes with Hiyori, "So you and Yato-chan were friends when you were little kids and you moved away, huh?"

Hiyori nodded sheepishly, "Yeah, my parents made the decision to not tell me until the last minute so I didn't get the chance to tell him…"

"It's pretty crazy you ended up going to the same college so many years later." She gave a small smirk and crossed her arms, "Some might even say something like that is fate."

Feeling her face already start to warm, Hiyori turned away slightly, "Y-yeah, it is pretty unusual. I'm still a bit amazed by it myself."

"Yato-chan was definitely really excited about it too." Kofuku nodded along, her expression softening, "And he was especially blown away after you offered to tutor Yukki too."

"I did a lot of tutoring in high school, so I didn't mind at all. Yukine-kun and I get along really well too, so it's been fun." She turned back towards Kofuku, a small smile making its way across her lips.

Her lips moved upward a bit as well and she turned to stir the food a little more as she commented, "That's great. I'm really glad." Turning back around, she looked at her curiously, "So tell me more about yourself, Hiyorin! Yato-chan has told me a bit, but I wanna get to know you better." Kofuku poked her shoulder playfully, "Especially since I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of you!"

 **Notes at the bottom this time. Needless to say, Kofuku ships it haha. I'm quite surprised at how fast I managed to pump this chapter out, but there is a lot of dialogue so I suppose that's the main reason. I'm still kind of in the process of changing around my plans for the next few chapters but hopefully I'll get that all figured out soon. Thank you guys!**


	12. Suggestion

**Sorry this took so long! Alongside the craziness of the holidays, I've been having a really hard time with writing lately. I'm at a really weird spot in life right now and my self-doubt has been so crippling that it's taken a toll on my creativity and motivation to do the things I enjoy, so I really hope I can get back on track soon. Hope you enjoy!**

 _Good Enough_

After getting over her initial surprise and swallowing, Hiyori let out, "I hope that's true, but what makes you say that?"

"Yato-chan hasn't really ever invited anyone over since Bisha." Kofuku answered absentmindedly as she started to scoop the contents of the skillet into bowls.

"Bisha…?" She repeated slowly, curious.

Kofuku blinked and looked upward, "Oh, that's right, you wouldn't know her. Sorry." She went back to her work, "Bisha was Yato-chan's girlfriend for a short time in high school, but they're both way too hot headed around each other. They fought almost constantly to the point Daikoku even hated being around them. They're kind of still friends, but it's mostly because they have to be. Bisha's new boyfriend Kazu-kun is friends with Yato and Bisha and I are still friends as well."

"Oh." Hiyori answered quietly, playing with her hands.

An ex-girlfriend that was dating his friend; it was no wonder he didn't seem too keen on dating again. Not to mention the possibility that maybe he still had lingering feelings even though it'd been a few years.

"Hiyorin?"

Her name pulled her out of her thoughts and she blinked curiously, "Yeah?"

"I'm still waiting to hear more about you." Kofuku reminded her with a small grin.

"Right, sorry." She nodded apologetically, "Um, so I'm in my second year of college and I'm pre-med. My dad's family owns a hospital and I'm looking to take over the family business, I guess is the best way of putting it."

Kofuku titled her head, "What about stuff you do for fun?"

"Kind of just whatever my best friends drag me into, Yama-chan and Ami-chan." She shrugged and gave a small smile, "I mean, I'm kind of into mixed martial arts too, but I don't really talk about that much. My mom has always been strongly against it so it's kind of a secret interest of mine. I just watch it more than anything else, but I actually have managed to take one class."

Her eyebrows raising in interest, Kofuku gave a giggle, "I certainly wouldn't expect you to be into that just from how you look, but that's interesting! It's always good to be passionate about something." She pointed upward toward the cabinet again, "I'm ready for the plates if you could get them, please."

Hiyori nodded before swinging open the door and gathering a stack of plates, "So what are you passionate about then, Kofuku-san?"

"Funny you should say that." She answered with a small smile, though Hiyori noticed it was sort of bittersweet, "I'm still looking for it, I guess. I've tried a lot of things but I'm just so clumsy and absentminded that I mess things up a lot."

"I'm sure you'll find it." Hiyori answered consolingly, helping Kofuku fill up the dinner plates, "If it helps any, you seem to be a really great friend. Yato speaks very highly of you and Daikoku-san both and you've been extremely welcoming for me as well."

"That's so sweet!" Kofuku flung herself around her tightly, causing a spoon to go clattering to the floor, "Thank you!"

Hiyori inhaled, trying to regain the breath that'd been knocked out of her as she awkwardly hugged Kofuku back, "Y-you're welcome."

"Is the food ready yet, Kofuku?" Yato called loudly from the back door followed by the sound of shoes scuffing around on the floor.

"Yeah! Just have to set the table!" She answered back just as loudly before Yato came around the corner, Yukine trailing just behind him.

Yato moved to the sink to wash his hands, but glanced over to Hiyori, "You can go ahead and sit down, we'll get it. You're supposed to be a guest, after all…"

She gave an awkward smile in return as she met both his and Yukine's eyes, nodding appreciatively, "Thanks."

As Hiyori made her way back to the living room, she heard Daikoku's deep voice echo through the kitchen as well, "Wow, everything looks pretty good!"

"Thank you!" Kofuku chirped in response, though she let out a small whine shortly after, "Aww, I guess it got a little burned on the bottom."

"I told you, that's why you can't leave everything set on high just to try and get it to cook faster." Yato commented automatically, followed by a yelp, "Hey, ouch!"

Hiyori tilted her head curiously as she sat down, listening to the conversation and intently and wondering what happened.

"You did _great_ , don't listen to what this idiot says." Daikoku said consolingly, though his tone was a bit gruff as well; his frustration more than likely aimed at Yato.

Hiyori heard Yato huff in response, "Hey, this idiot is a pretty decent cook who knows what he's doing. Right, Yukine?"

"Eh." The younger boy answered half-heartedly, "I guess so."

Hiyori's lips parted in surprise as Daikoku walked into the room, a few plates in his hands and a grin on his face, "Didn't sound too enthusiastic to me."

Yato followed behind him, pouting and grumbling before he whined, " _Yukine_."

As the rest of them set everything down on the table, Yukine took a seat next to Hiyori and shrugged, "What? It's not terrible, but it's not like it's the best thing I've ever eaten, either. Daikoku-san is definitely the better cook, hands down. As for Kofuku-san…" He took a quiet pause, "I guess we'll find out."

"Well I kind of hoped her get started, before I got pulled into the shop again…" Daikoku commented with a rub of his neck, sitting next to Yukine once he had lowered all of his dishes down to the table.

"Phew." Yato let out a sigh of relief as he sat down his things as well, sitting at the side of the table closest to Hiyori as Kofuku sat down across from her.

Daikoku shot him a glare and pointed, "I can take back that booze and just make you drink water, y'know."

Yato clung to the beer can protectively, "Fine, sorry."

"Speaking of," Kofuku interjected, looking up at Daikoku with a confused look, "Nothing for me, Koki?"

"Uh…" Her husband rubbed his neck once again, "I kinda agreed that you maybe probably shouldn't drink while Hiyori-chan is here. Maybe once she gets to know you a little bit better, you're a little… too friendly when you're drunk."

She immediately pouted and whined in response, "But Yato-chan is too!"

Though he flushed, he answered, "Only when I drink a _lot_ , and I don't plan to. Pretty much the only time I ever do get smashed is when I drink with you, so it's better for both of us this way."

"But that's not fair." She whined again and stared Daikoku down with the best puppy dog eyes that she could manage.

He glanced away, "Sorry, maybe after they head home for the night."

"Yeah, I have to walk Hiyori home too. So it'll probably just be this one drink, maybe two at most. That's it, I swear." He snapped the top of the can open with a loud pop.

Though she still made a small grumble, Kofuku answered, "Okay, fine."

Seizing the moment of silence, Hiyori brought her hands together, "Thanks for the food!" The others repeated after her, though much more casually. After having a few bites of different things, she complimented, "It's all really great. Thank you for having me over, by the way. And thank you again to Yato and Yukine-kun for inviting me."

"Of course, of course!" Kofuku answered in a sing-song voice, "Feel free to come by any time, Hiyorin; with Yato-chan and Yuki or by yourself, either way. We love having guests."

She gave a small laugh and repeated, "Thank you."

"That's assuming we don't scare her off." Yato commented before taking a bite of his food.

"Entirely possible." Yukine added on after finishing a sip of his water, "I'm still debating about whether or not I'll hang around after I become a legal adult or not."

Surprisingly, Daikoku was the first one to answer. He rolled his eyes, "Right, sure you are. Even if you tried to ditch us, you'd be back."

"He's right. Even if it was unwillingly, you got attached." Yato titled his head and smirked, resting his head against his palm, "So now you're stuck with us."

The conversation died down a bit as everyone started to focus more on their food, though picked back up again shortly after. Though Yato wasn't quite as talkative as Kofuku, he finally seemed to talk a little more freely than he had earlier that day as the group dissolved into multiple different stories as well as suggestions for things that Hiyori should do with them in the future, which she eagerly agreed to.

Feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket, she pulled it out and felt dread move through her body as she saw that it was her mother calling. "Sorry, I've got to answer this." She bowed apologetically before getting up from the table and heading towards the back door, sliding the screen shut as she answered, "Hi, mom."

"Hiyori, it's been so long since I've heard from you. Is everything alright?" Loud voices and some laughter pouring through the screen door as she sat down at the edge of the porch, Hiyori's mother paused to ask, "Where are you?"

"I'm out at a restaurant with Ami-chan and Yama-chan to celebrate all of our first tests going well. I just stepped away from the table to answer." She lied effortlessly, something she wasn't really proud of, "And yes, I'm sorry about that. I've just been really busy lately."

Her mother hesitated for a second before answering, "Oh, I understand; I'll try not to keep you that long, then. But Hiyori, I am a bit worried about you—you sound different lately, like you're not yourself."

"O-oh? What makes you say that?" She questioned in an innocent tone though her hand gripped her phone just a bit tighter.

"You sort of sound distant at times, like it's hard to focus and you've got too many things on your mind. I spoke to Kouto-san recently and he said that he tried to visit you and that you didn't have the time to speak with him." Her tone wasn't exactly angry or disappointed quite yet, but it definitely sounded like she was waiting for a reason.

Hiyori felt her stomach drop and she stuttered, "A-about that… He showed up on a Monday afternoon without any notice and as you know, that's one of the days that I tutor, so there really wasn't much I could do."

"I know you had obligations, but couldn't you have rescheduled or maybe spent a little time with him afterward before he left? He traveled a long way to see you, you know. Kouto-san still cares about you a lot, Hiyori."

She was unhappy, but she at least she wasn't reprimanding her; Hiyori took solace in that, at least. Fujisaki more than likely hadn't brought up the scene she'd caused in the coffee shop, or else the conversation would have started off sour to begin with.

"I might have rescheduled if it had been earlier in the day, but I was literally leaving for the tutoring session when I ran into Fujisaki-san. I really spent more time with him than I should have, to be honest. But anyway, Mom, even if he still cares about me, it doesn't matter. I'm focusing on my studies right now and things ended on a really bad note anyway and I'm not interested in continuing anything with him."

She had given this speech to her mother what felt like over a hundred times and she tried her best to not let her annoyance come through in her voice. As she took a breath, she heard the sliding door quietly be pushed back and she snapped her head upward to see Yato.

Her mom sighed as well, "Yes, yes, I understand. Still, don't forget that the Fujisaki family is very kind to us. At the very least consider him a family friend."

"Just checking on you." Yato whispered before moving to close the door again, though Hiyori waved him to come out instead.

"…Okay." Hiyori answered as Yato gave her a confused look but followed her direction, sitting down next to her quietly.

Hiyori's mom gave a sigh as well, "Alright. Well, going back to what I was saying before about you sounding different, are you sure you're not taking on too many responsibilities at once? Maybe tutoring is a little too much to take on with university level classes."

"Yukine-kun did extremely well on his first test this semester, too. I promise I'll reconsider if I feel overwhelmed, but so far it's been working out well for both of us." She answered confidently, though she looked down into her lap as she turned away from Yato.

"As long as you're keeping that in mind, that's all I ask. I'll let you get back to dinner with your friends. Give me a call whenever you've got a decent break in your schedule."

"I will. Bye for now, Mom."

"Goodbye, Hiyori."

As soon as she hung up, she let out another sigh; this time much more loudly, "Sorry… Really wasn't expecting her to call tonight."

"Sucks since I was hoping tonight would take your mind off of all that, and it still gets brought up anyway." He tilted his head back in frustration, "Right before I opened the door, I heard you were talking about that asshole, so I'm sorry."

"You have helped! You really have." She answered loudly, leaning in closer to him to get his attention, "I'm really enjoying it and I'm sure I'll completely forget this phone call by the time we get back on the train. But yeah, I just probably need to take a little breather before going back in." As he looked back down at her, she continued sheepishly, "Thanks for making sure I was okay."

He blinked, "Yeah, of course. I saw you looked kind of frustrated when you got up and after you took a while, I wanted to make sure you weren't upset or that nothing serious was going on."

"I really didn't expect him to tell her that he came here, to be honest. Since he obviously had to skip classes and all, but she didn't seem to be bothered by it in the slightest." She reached up to touch her forehead, "Not that I should be surprised by that. That's why I didn't tell her what really happened, because I'm afraid she'll just treat it like nothing, like she does for everything else."

Yato was quiet for a moment before she felt his palm rest over her free hand, "I'm sorry."

"Thank you. It does bother me a lot, but I've got a lot of support from other places, so it's okay." She looked up and flashed him a small smile.

He returned her smile with one of his own as he locked eyes with her.

"Hiyoorin, Yato-chan, is everything okay?" Kofuku stuck her head out through the cracked door before she caught sight of his hand over Hiyori's and the smiles on their faces, "Oooh, I interrupted something, didn't I? Sorry!" She giggled loudly as Hiyori and Yato pulled away from each other, ducking back inside.

"H-hey, Kofuku!" Yato called after her sheepishly, though she was already on her way back to the living room. "Sorry." He mumbled as he looked back to Hiyori, his face red.

She parted her lips but it took a few seconds for her response to come out, her face burning and her heart racing as well, "Don't worry about it." She got up first, making her way to the living room without looking back to wait for Yato. As she entered the living room, she avoided everyone's eyes and apologized, "Sorry, my mom called and I hadn't spoken with her in a while, so I didn't want her to worry."

"Oh, okay." Kofuku answered in a knowing voice, making Hiyori's face burn even more as she went back to eating her food.

"What's wrong with you?" Yukine commented as Yato slowly made his way back into the room as well.

Hiyori looked up for only a split second before she met his eyes and looked away again and she was sure he did the same.

"Nothing." He muttered in response as he sat back down, immediately using the food as a distraction as well.

As silence swept over the table, Daikoku took a sip of his beer and commented quietly, "Well, this isn't awkward at all."

"Maybe we should move on to dessert." Kofuku suggested.

"That'd be great, Kofuku-san. I can help you." Hiyori immediately volunteered as an excuse to leave the room, but after seeing the other girl's mischievous smirk flicker across her face for a brief second, she started to regret her decision.

Standing up, she waved Hiyori towards her, "That'd be wonderful, Hiyorin. Let's go~"


	13. Awkward

**Phew, okay! Finally done with this chapter. Parts of it came really easy and then other parts I was stuck on for quite a while which is why it ended up taking so long.**

 **Thanks so much for all the kind comments on this story so far, especially those of you who went out of your way to try and make me feel better about my self-doubt issues and what not after I brought that up in the last chapter's notes. I went to my doctor & was prescribed a new medicine to help with my anxiety and I should be starting therapy soon to so things will hopefully be looking up soon enough. **

**Anyways, hope you like this chapter. Yatori is definitely moving forward~**

 _Good Enough_

Kofuku all but cornered her in the kitchen, asking her much of the same questions that Ami and Yama had bombarded her with just a few weeks ago. After admitting quietly that she'd already essentially asked him out and that she was rejected, Kofuku also seemed quiet perplexed; maybe even more so than Yukine or herself.

"Really…?" Her tone dropped and she suddenly got much quieter than she had been all night.

Hiyori nodded and answered quietly, "Y-yeah. I talked with Yukine-kun about it, actually… He was worried after Yato came back home and was acting weird, so he texted me and I told him what happened. He seemed confused about it as well, but really. It's fine. It really is."

Kofuku gave a small hum, admitting, "I think I might know why he's being like that, but—that's really something for him to say." Perking back up, she asked, "Well, we should go serve dessert, don't you think?"

"Mm, right." Hiyori nodded again before scooping the plate off the counter where Kofuku had left it for her.

After that conversation, the energy definitely seemed to calm down quite a bit compared to earlier in the night, but Hiyori was still thankful when Yato announced they probably needed to head back as soon as they finished eating. Following their goodbyes, silence took over them as they walked to the train station. Nervously, Hiyori glanced to Yukine to see if he was feeling awkward as well. However, she noticed that he was standing closer to Yato than usual while also gripping the several bentos that Daikoku had given them.

Looking up at the moon before looking back to Yukine, her eyes widened as she recalled, ' _That's right, Yato mentioned that Yukine-kun didn't like the dark …_ ' She couldn't help but wonder why, but that thought also made her heartache.

As they entered the brightly lit train station, his shoulders fell slightly and she could tell that his tension had eased. But just as she noticed that, she realized Yato was watching her with an eyebrow raised curiously. She looked away, staring at her feet sheepishly, "So what time should the train be here?"

"Just a few more minutes." He answered automatically.

"Good, I'm almost ready to go to sleep." Yukine forced a yawn and Yato rolled his eyes.

"That's just your full stomach talking for you, I'll sure you'll get your second wind." He leaned down towards the younger boy, "After all, you're in high school now. You can't go to sleep at ten o'clock on a Friday night, that's lame." He raised his voice enough to get several other people to look in their direction.

Yukine flushed and fired back, "I'll go to sleep when I want to, asshole. By the way, I swear you only go out of your way to embarrass me in front of other people."

"That's how being a dad works, right?" He grinned widely.

" _Stop_ _saying that_." Yukine hissed and stuck his tongue out distastefully, "Legal guardian, that's it. Just because I called you dad accidentally one time when I was sick doesn't mean anything." Hiyori let out a small giggle at that admission and he immediately groaned, "What?"

Trying her best to control her smile, she answered, "It is a little funny, you have to admit."

He huffed, "I guess, but I wasn't in my right mind. And it's _not_ gonna happen again, so you should really stop trying."

Once they had gotten onto the train, Yukine took one of the empty seats while she and Yato stood next to him, watching as the younger boy started to drift off not long into the ride.

"Don't drop those." Yato reached out to push one of the boxes that had started to slide, grasping the ring above him to keep his balance.

Yukine hugged them tighter against himself again, snapping his head upward, "I won't!"

"Looked like you were dozing off to me." Yato straightened back out.

"Yeah, okay, the train is making me a _little_ sleepy. But I'm not gonna drop anything, I swear." He admitted, shifting in the seat to sit up a little bit straighter.

Hiyori stretched out her free arm with a bit of a yawn, "I'm a little bit tired too."

Both boys immediately turned their heads towards her. "Do you wanna sit down?" Yukine immediately offered and she quickly shook her head.

"Oh, no, I'm fine. Thank you." She gave a grateful smile and adjusted her grip, "If I let myself doze off now, I'll be a lost cause. So it's better that I stay standing up."

"Ah, okay." He nodded quietly and Yato turned his attention back towards the window.

As their train ride came to an end, she could tell Yukine had tensed once again. He also picked up his pace as they headed back towards the apartment, though he took care to not get too far ahead of either her or Yato.

This time she also noticed Yato's gaze hardly ever left Yukine as they walked. He had his hands shoved into his pockets and walked casually, but looking closely she could tell that he was studying Yukine, more than likely for any sort of mood shift or reaction. After they'd gotten back to the apartment and put away their food, Yukine retreated to the living room and laid on a few cushions as he switched the TV on.

Yato lingered in the space between the kitchen and living room as Hiyori looked on from the kitchen counter, "You okay if we leave?"

"Yeah, I'll keep myself busy." He glanced upward, "Night, Hiyori. See you on Monday."

"Right, see you then. Goodnight, Yukine-kun." She gave a small nod before turning to Yato and following after him as he turned down the hallway again.

They walked in silence as they started down the stairs and back out onto the street, but eventually Yato stuttered, "H-Hey, sorry about Kofuku. She's just… like that." He took a breath, "But now you see why we didn't want her to drink. She gets even worse."

"Oh, wow." Hiyori laughed nervously, "But, um, it's okay. I'm glad I finally got to meet her and Daikoku-san. They're both very kind and, like you said, the food was great too. I definitely had fun, so don't worry about that."

"That's good." He gave a relieved smile, nodding, "I'm glad." After a pause, he asked, "So, uh, you hanging out with your friends this weekend or just relaxing?"

She nodded as well, answering, "I think we're going to go see a movie tomorrow, but that's it. Other than that, I'm not sure. Studying and homework at some point, of course." Reflexively, she asked, "And you?" Immediately she realized her mistake and her hand flew up to her mouth to cover it.

Yato laughed loudly, "Working, as always. Might watch TV for a little while if I'm lucky."

"Sorry, I knew that." Hiyori looked down to her feet, "It's just habit."

"Don't worry about it." He answered automatically, still smiling. Looking up with a sigh, he added, "It'll be nice if I ever get to the point where I can have free time again. I guess that's the one thing I miss about being in high school." Frowning and shaking his head, he thought out loud, "Then again, that's why I got into trouble a lot more often."

"Which is why you worry about Yukine-kun." She concluded and gave a small smile, "But specifically because you have someone to look after now, I don't think you would get into very much trouble if you had more free time."

Yato laughed and ran a hand through his hair, "Yeah, you're right. I'd probably just be a homebody now. I mean, I kinda already am, in a way. Walking you home is pretty much the only thing I do other than going to classes and work."

"Do you miss being able to do other things?" Hiyori glanced off into the street, watching a few passing by cars.

He hummed in thought for a moment before answering, "Not really. I mean, sometimes, I guess, but not very often. Like you said, a lot of the stuff I did before… I didn't really do it because I wanted to. I just did them because I was angry; at myself, at the world, whatever. It's just that I've been working really hard for the past couple of years and I know I'm gonna have to keep at it for a while, so I'll be grateful when I can tone it down even just a little bit."

Folding her hands behind her, she looked back at him, "Have you told that to Yukine-kun? I'm just curious since he was so eager to start working when I first met him."

Yato shook his head, "No, but he sees how drained I am sometimes. And I appreciate that he wants to help, but I don't want to burden him with that either. I knew what I was getting into when I decided to take him in, financially and otherwise. And I want him to be able to have as many normal childhood years as he can, so I really don't want him to get a job unless he really _wants_ to. Not just to help me."

"That's really sweet." Hiyori answered softly, a wide smile passing over her lips.

"Trying to give him the opportunities I didn't have and all that good stereotypical parent stuff, you know." He scratched his head sheepishly.

"Well, you're doing a great job, I think." She gave a small giggle.

Yato looked off and she saw his cheeks start to turn a shade of pink, "T-thanks…"

"Ah, you're welcome." Hiyori answered, starting to feel about sheepish about her directness and gripped her hands together just a little bit tighter.

After a moment of awkward silence passed between them, Yato cleared his throat and spoke again, "I'm really glad you recognized me that day. Like I said, Yukine's already improved a lot and he really likes hanging out with you. And me, too. I mean, I do too—like hanging out with you." He made a frustrated groan at himself and she laughed, causing him to smile and move on, "Ugh. What I wanted to say is that I'm really grateful for… all of this."

"I think I know what you're trying to say." She giggled again, adding, "And I am too. I was really excited about seeing you again and the reason why I was so out of it when you first got to the ramen place was because I was worried you were going to be a no show. Yama-chan and Ami-chan didn't seem to think it was that big of a deal to run into you after so long, and I was worried you maybe felt the same."

His eyes flickered to hers in disbelief, "Like I said, I was shocked you remembered me, much less asked for my number and then actually followed through with texting me." He made a few motions with his hands, "Cuz y'know how many people are like "Oh, we should catch up sometime!" but then don't ever actually put in any effort. Or you talk for like two days and then they vanish off the face of the Earth again."

"Mmm. Yeah, I know the type all too well." Hiyori nodded, thinking that sounded like many of the 'friends' that her mother had tried to set her up with over the years. They got along well enough at any sort of social gatherings between their families and were nice if they ever passed each other at school or around the city, but that was about it.

One or two girls had started spreading around some more negative things after she had broken off things with Fujisaki, but most people knew Hiyori well enough to know those things were false and those who didn't soon dropped it after graduation when everyone went their own ways.

"But anyway, yeah, there's no way I would have stood you up." He defended with a shake of his head.

"I didn't really think you would, but I was really nervous too, so I don't know. My thoughts were just kind of all over the place." She ran a hand through her hair sheepishly.

"It's okay." Yato answered with a small laugh before coming to a stop and looking to her, "So, uh, guess I'll see you on Monday, then."

Hiyori glanced around and realized they were already in front of her dorm building. ' _Wow, how was I that oblivious this whole time?_ ' She questioned herself as she felt the heat start to warm her cheeks. "Y-yeah, I'll see you then!" She answered enthusiastically, adding on a little more quietly, "Goodnight."

He stared at her and she started to tilt her head in curiosity until he finally answered, "Night, Hiyori." With that, he had spun around and started on his way back.

Letting out a breath to herself to slow down her heartbeat, she dug in her pocket for her keycard and moved towards the door. Of course, Yama and Ami were waiting as usual.

"Sounds like you're making progress, Hiyori~" Yama commented in a sing song voice after she had gave a short summary of the night.

Ami raised her eyebrows suggestively, "I mean, even if you're not dating, he kind of just introduced you to his family in a way. Which is kind of a big deal."

"I guess, but I still don't want to read too much into it." Hiyori waved her arms rapidly, "I definitely don't want to get ahead of myself… After all, he did this as a way to help me get this past week off my mind. Isn't meeting someone's family in a romantic sense usually supposed to be pretty stressful? So I don't think he meant it in that sense."

"Whether or not he meant it in that sense, either way, they know you now!" Ami fired back automatically, "And you said it seemed like his friend Kofuku-san was hinting towards him having a crush on you too, so, that sounds promising."

Yama leaned forward, " _And_ from what you were saying about how you were talking on the way home and stuff, it sounds like he's letting his guard down too. So keep at it, Hiyori! I'm sure it'll pay off soon."

Blushing, she immediately retorted, "I'm not trying anything, Yama-chan! I'm just… talking to him."

Her friend reached over to slap her back and winked, "Then just keep being you."

"Who knew accidental flirting could be so effective?" Ami sighed, adjusting her glasses, "Guess maybe I should give it a try."

Yama shook her head, "Nah, you have to be as oblivious as Hiyori to pull it off. And you, Ami, are definitely far from oblivious."

" _Hey_." Hiyori commented in a warning tone, pouting, and earning a laugh from both of her friends. "I already tried the direct route and it didn't work out so well." She slumped.

"Maybe it would work now, though?" Yama suggested with a shrug, "Like, maybe not as direct as asking him on a date again but… maybe something else?"

Ami shrugged as well, "Maybe drop verbal hints or something?"

"Hmm…" She hummed doubtfully before a thought crossed her mind. "Ami-chan, do we walk past the mall on the way to that movie theater that you wanted to go tomorrow?"

Her friend paused to think about it and nodded, "Yeah, I think so. Why?"

"Mind if we stop to take a shopping trip on the way back from there?" Hiyori asked curiously, several thoughts still crossing through her mind.


	14. Change

**I finally got this chapter done, wooo! For some reason this month feels like it's lasting forever even though it's the shortest month of the year lol. I feel like I'm doing a lot better but for some reason writing has still been a little tough. I will probably try and do some prompt requests going soon to try and get my creative juices pumping or something haha. Anyway, hope you enjoy!**

 _Good Enough_

Hiyori was beyond impatient as she waited for her class to be over; the clock hand seemed to never move despite how much she looked up at it. Tapping her foot against the floor and biting her lip, she tried her best to continue to take notes but she could tell her mind was just beyond hope at this point.

She'd been over eager to see Yato again ever since she had picked up something for him at the mall. It wasn't much to brag about by any means, but she was still so excited about it that she nearly told him over Twitter the few times he had managed to get online despite the fact she intended it to be a surprise. By the time her professor announced class was finally over, she practically jumped out of her seat and out the door.

This time she rushed past most of her classmates, calling out his name loudly as she made her way to the front lobby, "Yato!" Several people turned their heads to look at her, but Yato looked the most surprised of all as he lifted his head to look up from his computer. She lowered her head a bit, a little bit embarrassed from her obvious excitement, but her focus stayed on him.

Blinking, he answered, "Hey, Hiyori." After putting away his laptop and standing up, he commented in an amused tone, "You definitely seem to be doing better today."

"Ah," She nodded and smiled widely, "Yeah, I am."

"Good!" He grinned back at her before starting to move forward, Hiyori matching his stride. "So did you end up doing much other than going to see a movie?"

Hiyori nodded in response, "We did end up going to the mall as well, but other than that, I spent a lot of time relaxing."

He continued to look forward as he listened, "Oh? That's good."

"So, um," She started to reach into her bag hesitantly, "I kind of got you something while we were there."

Yato's head whipped in her direction, an eyebrow raised as he looked down at her, "Wha?"

"It's just something small." She quickly answered before she withdrew her hand from her purse and opened up her palm, holding out a plush keychain of a Capyper with a crown. Her cheeks already warming, she continued, "Since you were taking the time to thank me Friday night, I wanted to thank you for going out of your way to do so much for me, too. So…"

He took it gingerly, but by the time she looked up he was already looking away, equally embarrassed as he mumbled, "Yukine told you."

"I remember from when we were kids, too, you know." She answered, though she didn't deny his accusation. Letting her hand fall back to her side, she added, "Everyone has something like that. For me, it's Touno-sama, which you know. Another example is Yama-chan and that band she likes… I think it's The Hundred Archfiends?"

"I guess so." He blinked, his words still barely audible.

Letting out a little sigh, Hiyori gave a smile, "Besides, it's sweet. Capyper Land is all about making happy memories and dreams coming true, so it's a great thing to admire. Much better than the senseless violence that I enjoy." She finished with a grin.

Yato's eyes finally flickered over to hers, "I don't really get it, but I know you take away a lot more from it than just senseless violence. Otherwise you wouldn't admire that guy so much."

"A lot of people don't get it, but that's fine." She smoothed out her skirt, "And you're right, but I was just trying to make a joke. It's nothing you need to be embarrassed about was what I was really trying to say. At least not around me of all people; the closet martial arts fan."

"Right. Thanks." He answered quietly, slipping his backpack off of one shoulder and twisting it around so that he could put the keychain safely into one of the pockets before sliding the strap back over his shoulder.

Taking a breath, Hiyori admitted, "Sorry, I didn't mean to give it to you out of nowhere like that. I planned to thank you more formally, but since the subject came up, I just sort of blurted it out."

He quickly shook his head, "No, no. More casual is fine. I prefer that, actually."

"Well, um. Thank you again, for going out of your way to walk with me to and from your apartment and also for inviting me to go with you and Yukine-kun on Friday." She stared down at her feet this time, feeling unsure.

"You don't—" Yato went to interrupt her but she immediately looked up to correct him. Sighing and scratching the back of his head, he answered, "You're welcome."

The rest of the walk was relatively quiet minus a few more sentences of small talk and Hiyori's heart sank into her chest, thinking she had maybe overstepped her boundaries once again.

It wasn't nearly as awkward as it had been when she had told him she was hoping they could go on a date, but it was far from the easy flowing conversations that were the usual between them. As he held the door open for her, she almost felt to the point of tears. It seemed like her feelings were only making things worse as time went on.

But as soon as the front door was shut, his hands were lightly grasping her arms and her lips parted in surprise.

"Hiyori, I don't…" His head hung low and she felt him grip her a little more tightly for a split second before he eased the tension in his hands again, "I've been trying so hard to avoid this, and you…" His voice trailed off, quiet and weak.

Her throat grew unbearably tight and she squeaked, "I-I'm sorry. I'm so—" She really had crossed the line this time.

"What do you even see in someone like me?" She could feel his hands trembling and his voice quivered, "I don't understand."

"W-what?" The word barely passed her lips.

His eyes looked upward for a split second but he quickly looked back down, "Even if I'm trying my hardest to get my shit together now, we—we're still really different, you know? You've got a lot going for you and being involved with me would only bring you down. I—I really wanna be the person that you think you see in me, but—"

Everything started snapping into place as she listened to him, her voice shaking too as she asked, "You still think about what my mom said to you?"

He exhaled sharply and finally held her glance, "It wasn't just her, it was everyone; my dad, foster parents, teachers, other kids growing up. There's been plenty of times where I've been told I was worthless or that I'd never accomplish anything. Part of the reason why I try so hard is to prove all of them wrong, but—there's been plenty of times where I did believe it. And sometimes I still wonder..." His hands slipped from her shoulders and back down to his sides.

"Yato," She interjected, struggling to raise her voice, "Look at what you _have_ accomplished, and you did a lot of it all on your own. Me—most opportunities that I've had, I've had because of my parents. I've done some things on my own, yes, but even that was a lot easier for me because of my situation." Taking a breath and pausing to collect her thoughts, she continued, "I know I only know a small part of what you went through growing up, but the fact that you managed to overcome all of that is incredible. On top of that, you took in Yukine-kun. A lot of middle aged adults aren't even willing to do such a thing and you did it at what, nineteen? I know Kofuku-san and Daikoku-san helped you, but still. You made that decision on your own and you work extremely hard for the both of you every single day. How could you not be proud of all of that?" She stepped forward, leaving little space between them as she looked up at him.

"I—" He swallowed and looked down again, "I am, but… Ugh, I don't know, Hiyori. Despite how hard I work, I still barely make ends meet. And between school and work, it's not like I'd ever be able to really take you anywhere. I just—don't think I can give you what you deserve."

She reached up to cup his cheek and his eyes lifted to look at her as she said seriously, "Don't worry about things like that. That's not what I want. I just…" She exhaled, her voice quiet and her face warming, "Want to be with you more."

Yato stared at her for a moment before he finally relaxed against her palm, questioning in disbelief, "That's it?"

She nodded and gave a tiny smile, "Yeah, that's it. That's all I want."

"Hiyori," He exhaled deeply before his lips finally curled upward as well, his eyes closing, "I don't think I have it in me to say no to you anymore."

She stayed quiet and unmoving, watching him carefully until he finally opened his eyes again.

He reached up with both of his hands to gently lower hers from his face, though he kept one of his over hers as their arms fell. His hands were still trembling and his palms were somewhat moist, but her eyes were glued to his. His hand gripped hers a little tighter as he struggled to get his question out, "Can I… kiss you?"

Hiyori's lips parted but no sound came out, so she went with a small nod. He reached up with his free hand to brush some of her hair behind her shoulder, the back of his hand skimming her cheek. At that, her eyes fell shut and she tried her hardest to remember to breathe.

"It's, uh… kind of been a while, so," She could feel his breath on her cheek, probably only a few inches away, "Sorry if this is bad…"

She gave a small laugh in response, "It's not like I can't say the same."

"Then I guess at least we're even." He joked in return and she hummed before she heard him shift.

His lips were soft and warm as he met hers and she made a small noise in surprise, causing him to pull away. "S-sorry." He mumbled.

She blinked her eyes momentarily, looking at him, "It's okay, sorry. Let's, um, try that again." She hung onto his shoulder as she initiated this kiss. She was clumsy and uncertain, but he didn't seem to mind in the slightest. Her heart fluttered as he returned her affection, slow and gentle. The kiss didn't last long but when they pulled away she felt lightheaded and breathless. As he let go of her hand, she moved forward to wrap her arms around his middle tightly, her face resting against his shoulder.

Yato tensed initially but moved his arms around her in a light embrace. They stayed like that for a few minutes, Hiyori listening to the sound of him breathing and in disbelief of how the situation had completely flipped from just a few minutes ago.

"Ah, um." He shifted and gave an awkward smile as she took a step back from him, looking up curiously, "Yukine should be home soon, so…" He nodded his head towards the hallway.

"R-right." She felt her face flush once again, immediately working to slip off her shoes. After stepping up onto the raised floor, she waited for Yato before they both walked into the living room together. Sitting down and pulling out their books to start on homework, she tried her best to make small talk, "I guess it'll be time to try out your kotatsu soon to see how well it does."

He blinked and glanced at her, humming, "Yeah, I guess so." Another moment of awkward silence passed by before he shifted uncomfortably in his seat and cleared his throat, "Want some water?"

Hiyori looked up at him and answered sheepishly, "Sure."

Once he'd returned to the table with their glasses, they both used sipping on the water as an excuse to not talk alongside being busy with their homework. When Yukine finally came in through the front door, he sounded confused as he called out, "Uhh, anyone here? I'm home!"

"Welcome back." Yato answered loudly before Yukine rounded the corner and padded softly into the living room, his backback hanging loosely from his right arm.

An eyebrow raised, he asked, "Why are you guys so quiet today?"

"Just working on stuff." The older boy answered automatically, his focus returning back to his notebook.

Trying her best to hide how lightheaded and flushed she was feeling, she asked curiously, "How was school, Yukine-kun?"

"I dunno. Fine, I guess." He sat across from her, dropping his backpack on the floor before taking a seat, "Kinda boring today, was pretty easy stuff."

"Well, that's good. It's always good to have a decent amount of material you're really confident with." She nodded along, flipping through her material for Yukine before a few papers slid out of her grasp. She made a small squeak and flailed as she tried to catch the papers from falling, though most ended up falling to the floor anyway. She looked back up to see Yukine looking at her with a raised eyebrow, though he stayed silent.

Not long into the lesson, however, his annoyance finally got the better of him, "What's going on? You're both acting really weird." He dropped his pencil to the table, staring expectantly between the two.

Her eyes darted to Yato's, searching his expression for what she should say if anything.

Noticing Hiyori's intense focus on him, Yukine also took that as a cue to stare solely at Yato as well.

With wide eyes, his only answer for Hiyori and Yukine was, "Uhhh….." He reached for his glass of water and chugged a large amount, taking his sweet time.

Everything falling into place, Yukine concluded, "Ah, okay. Soooooo, are you finally gonna date now?"

Yato nearly spit out his water and when Yukine looked at her, she answered with wide eyes and a shrug, looking again to Yato.

"Maaaaay…beeee?" He dragged out the word in an unsure fashion, looking back at Hiyori as if he almost expected her to throw something at him if he answered wrong.

Feeling both of their eyes on her, she squirmed, "Er, um." Giving up on words, she just nodded.

While Yato grinned widely, Yukine let out a loud grown and got up from the table and announced, "I'm gonna have to take a short break before we get back to work , Hiyori. That was probably the most goddamn awkward thing I've ever experienced." He brushed off the sleeves of his school uniform as he walked into the kitchen, "You're both ridiculous."

"Sorry." She answered quietly, but her smile was quickly growing as well.


	15. Admission

**Little bit short once again, sorry about that! I was actually horrendously sick today but I'm feeling much better now thankfully. I was very amused by everyone's reviews from last chapter XD but I also just didn't have it in me at the time to respond to them all individually lol but thank you so much, I appreciate the enthusiasm and I'm glad you all enjoy it so much!**

 _Good Enough_

"I'm glad Yukine doesn't really seem to mind at all…" Yato leaned his head back in a relieved sigh, his hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket to keep them warm from the slight chill in the air.

Hiyori laughed nervously and twisted her hands together as they walked, "About that…"

"What?" He shot her a confused look.

"I, um, kind of talked about it to Yukine-kun before." She looked down at her feet as she explained, "He asked why you were acting weird that night after I asked about going out to dinner, and I couldn't lie to him."

Yato took a short pause before she heard him ask, "And…? What'd he say?"

"He said a couple of different things, but, he did joke that it'd be nice for me to be around more; so he didn't have to deal with you by himself." She gave another small giggle and looked his way.

He rolled his eyes, "Of course he did." Rubbing his neck, he continued sheepishly, "Well, no wonder I was fighting a losing battle if both of you were plotting against me."

Hiyori immediately went to correct him, "We weren't _plotting_! We just answered each other's questions, that's all." Looking forward to her dorm building, she lowered her voice, "Yama-chan and Ami-chan, however… They certainly went out of their way to push me forward, that's for sure."

"Ah, so you were fighting your own losing battle." He commented in an amused tone.

Her face warming slightly, she nodded, "I guess you could say that."

"Hmm." He looked over to her with a grin, "I feel slightly better, then."

Hiyori sighed but her lips curled up into a smile as she commented, "At least it worked out."

"Yeah." They came to a stop just in front of her building and Yato's gaze washed over her, unsure. Eventually he decided on reaching out to lightly brush his fingers against her upper arm, his voice soft, "So, uh, see you tomorrow, then."

"Mhmm." She nodded, her blush quickly returning as she mumbled, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." He answered and she whirled around, heading for the door.

Her chest was tight again, but it wasn't in a bad way. It was more like her body was so full of excitement that it was simply ready to burst. And the more that she replayed everything in her head as she walked, the more she couldn't control the smile on her face, either.

Which of course was immediately noticed by her friends as she walked into the community room, where they had been waiting. "Yama, oh my god, _look at her_." Ami pointed out as soon as she came into the room, "Something happened."

Yama's eyes immediately flickered upward and she let out a loud an overdramatic gasp as she looked over their friend. Jumping up and pulling her over by her wrist, she demanded, "Spill it, Hiyori. You can't keep any secrets from us."

Making a few squeaks as she was pulled by Yama, she took a breath and answered awkwardly, "I, um. I guess I have a boyfriend now."

"Yato-kun?" Ami immediately questioned back.

"No." She answered jokingly before rolling her eyes at the shocked looks they gave, "Yes, of course. And Ami-chan, he said that you could just call him Yato, remember?"

She nodded but gave an unsure look, "I know, but it just feels weird; maybe I will after I talk to him a bit more. But anyway, congratulations, Hiyori!" Ami reached around her to give her a quick hug, "I'm so happy for you!"

"About time!" Yama latched onto her immediately after, letting out a series of high pitched squeals and laughs, "Finally another guy in your life other than Touno."

"Thank you." She gave a soft smile to both of them.

"Not to ruin the moment or anything, just curious," Yama started as she began to pull away, "Are you going to tell your parents?"

Hiyori's lips parted in surprise before she paused to think, "Not… right now. I don't think I would mind telling my dad, but telling him is essentially letting my mom know. Even if I asked him to keep it to himself for a little while, it would probably slip out by accident." Looking off and considering her options, she thought out loud, "I think I'll call my older brother this weekend and see what he thinks I should do. It's been a while since I've talked to him, anyway."

"That sounds like a good place to start." Ami commented with a nod.

Twisting her fingers together nervously, she admitted, "Even if he's easier to talk to than my parents, he's still my older brother. I'm sure the conversation will still be fairly awkward." After letting out an annoyed huff, she continued, "The one positive about dating Fujisaki-san was that I didn't have to introduce him to anyone or even say anything to my parents. He asked them beforehand and I guess our families were already talking about it before even I found out…"

"Oh, wow." Ami held the side of her face in her palm, a deep frown on her lips.

Sighing and slightly spinning in her seat, Yama added, "Yeah, like I said before, I'm really happy to see you in such a different situation. Even before everything went to hell, that whole thing just rubbed me the wrong way from the beginning."

"I know what you mean." Hiyori ran a hand through her hair, "Anyway, aren't you two hungry? Shouldn't we work on getting something to eat?"

Ami hummed in response, "Now that you mention it, dinner does sound really nice."

"You know me, I'm always hungry." Yama jumped up from her seat eagerly, causing the other two girls to laugh.

* * *

The rest of the week passed by faster than she'd like to admit, and though she usually looked forward to the weekends, she found herself already wanting it to be Monday. Now that they'd gotten over the initial awkwardness for the most part, the small amount of time she got to spend with Yato truly felt like a dream. She'd been relatively comfortable in their apartment for a while now, but with the doubt of her own feelings lingering over her no longer hanging over her, the atmosphere felt lighter than ever.

Yukine would make an overdramatic noise of disgust if Yato draped his arm over her shoulder or anything like that, but overall he seemed happy with the situation too. Though of course, Yato quickly started doing things like that more often to intentionally annoy Yukine. She got a laugh out of it too sometimes, but she quickly got him to stop if she could tell Yukine was truly getting uncomfortable.

They didn't get much alone time between their schedules and Yukine's, but she was grateful for the small gap they had before Yukine got home. They just spent most of their time taking as always, but they sat much closer and shared a few innocent touches here and there, though they made her heart race regardless. When they did kiss, she would absolutely melt.

Before Fujisaki had begun to show his true colors, Hiyori had figured those sort of feelings would just come with time or maybe that books and movies had just exaggerated those feelings for dramatic effect. Then again, she also figured there had to be a reason why her classmates were so obsessed with the idea of relationships and all of the things that came with it. Finally, she could understand why.

She tapped the back of her cellphone as she stared up at the ceiling, coming up with various excuses to continue to avoid calling Masaomi for the past thirty minutes. However, it was now very likely that he had gotten home as well as eaten dinner by now so she really had nothing left to convince herself to wait. Sighing, she flipped over the phone and typed in the passcode before finding his contact information. Pressing the call button, she held the phone up to her ear and bit her lip nervously.

It rang only a few times before she heard his voice, "Hey, Little Sis. It's been a while."

"Y-yeah, it has!" She answered with a nervous laugh, "How are you doing?"

Masaomi gave a little sigh, "It's been pretty slow for me. I've had to do a lot of clinic work lately to keep everything together."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Hiyori answered with a frown.

"It's alright, that's exactly why I regularly take these jobs so I can rely on them when I need to. Anyway, how is school going?" He changed the subject to her.

She blinked and took a breath before answering, "It's gone well so far. My tests have gone smoothly so far and I, um, also got a job, but there's a bit of a story to that."

"Oh?" His voice raised in interest.

Her heart started to flutter as she began, "Do you remember Yato-kun…?"

"Yato-kun?" He repeated, humming, "You mean that kid you used to play with at the park before we moved suddenly? I guess so, but why bring him up?"

She tried to clear her throat as quietly as she could, "Well, it turns out that he also goes to my university. After we talked some, I found out that he was the legal guardian of boy named Yukine-kun who really needed a tutor so I offered to do it. So I've been spending a lot of time with both of them and, um, I started dating Yato as of this Monday."

It was quiet for a moment before she heard a sharp, " _What_? Hiyori, you're dating someone who was irresponsible to have a kid at such a young age?"

"No! You misunderstood." She shook her head and talked as quickly as she could to quell his worries, "He and Yukine-kun aren't biologically related, he's just taking care of him due to circumstances I don't really want to get into without asking him if it's okay to talk about first. Yukine-kun is a first year in high school."

Masaomi sighed in relief before continuing, "I suppose that's better, but it's still a bit… odd to say the least. Are you sure you're fine being in a situation like that?"

"Y-yeah, Yukine-kun and I get along really well too and… I'm really happy when I'm with Yato. With both of them." She answered timidly, not sure what else to really say in response.

She heard him let out another breath of air, but he commented, "Well, that's what's important, right?" After a small pause, he asked, "So what is Yato-kun studying, then?"

"Computer science, same as Yama-chan." She answered automatically and he hummed.

"Not a bad choice, though I can't say much about how our parents will feel about it since it's still sort of an up and coming field and not as traditional."

Hiyori sighed heavily, "Yeah, I… don't know when I'm going to tell them. They know I'm tutoring Yukine-kun, but that's it." Her voice lowering, she added, "Fujisaki-san showed up here out of the blue and Mom just treated it like it was no big deal again when we talked about it…"

"Hiyori, are you _serious_?" His voice rose in frustration, "He showed up there? Why didn't you tell me!?"

Her eyes widened and she reached up to cover her mouth in reflex, "S-sorry! I didn't want to worry you at the time. And Yama-chan, Ami-chan, and Yato have been walking me literally everywhere ever since it happened. I'm hardly ever by myself, I promise."

"I'm glad that's the case, but you should have told me to begin with." She heard him shift, "You're just throwing all sorts of curve balls at me tonight, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry." She repeated again, a deep frown on her face.

"Better late than never, I guess." Masaomi tried to force a laugh and her lips twitched back into a smile, "But yeah, I don't blame you for taking your time to tell Mom. I definitely don't think it hurts to be more prepared for that situation."

Hiyori reached up to hold her forehead, "I feel like it might be best to tell her during winter break. If I tell her over the phone, I feel like she'll call me almost every hour of every day or make a special trip up here to meet him and I don't really feel like dealing with either of those situations."

"Just be confident in your own decisions and choices, that's all I have to say, really." Her brother answered softly, "Hey, listen. I haven't eaten yet since I just got home from work not long ago, but thanks for calling, Hiyori."

"Of course." She nodded and smiled, her hand slipping back down to her side.

"By the way," He started again suddenly, "I can really tell just by your voice how happy you are and I'm really glad. I know between the situation with Mom and also with that Fujisaki-san creep, there's a lot to worry about, but just try to enjoy everything."

She gave a small ironic laugh, "It's funny, Mom said sort of the same thing, except for she said I sounded distracted and not like myself."

"Don't worry too much about what she says. She means well, but she goes about it in the wrong way, as you know."

"Right." She nodded again, "Bye for now. Thank you for all of the advice."

"Talk to you soon." Sternly, he added, "And next time, _call_ me if something happens, please?"

Her cheeks flushing, she answered quickly, "I will."

"Thanks."

With that, she heard the call end tone. Letting out a breath of air, she fell back on to her bed, "Phew… At least that's over with." She flipped over her phone and laid it on her stomach, stretching her arms up above her head. After letting out a yawn, she folded her arms behind her head as she tried to think of what she was going to do now. She'd been so worried about calling Masaomi that she didn't even consider what else to do with her Friday night.

Hiyori considered sending a text to her group chat with Yama and Ami before she made a realization, quickly snatching her phone up and grinning to herself, "That's right, Touno-sama had a fight last night!"


	16. Connections

**Quite a fun chapter~ I had a really good day with writing the day before yesterday and I'm hoping to soon start trying to write every day like I was in 2014 for a project I was doing for school. I may not post everything I write (because I usually hate whatever comes out when I force myself to write) but writing more often seems to make ideas flow more easily. Anyway, hope you enjoy!**

 _Good Enough_

"Why don't you shop at the place you work at?" Hiyori asked curiously as she dropped the handful of produce into the basket dangling from Yato's arm.

"I'm too tired by the end of work to do the shopping, much less carry it all the way home. And it's too out of the way compared to this place." He answered in a groan, taking a few steps before grabbing something else off of a shelf and dropping it in the basket, "The discount doesn't make it worth the hassle. Besides, we only need a few things."

She hummed in response as she followed after him, "Ah, I see."

Looking back over his shoulder, he added with a small grin, "Besides, we're trying to make this quick. If I took you to where I work, then I'd have to introduce you to everybody and yeah… we'd be there for the rest of the night."

"O-oh, gotcha." She gave a sheepish smile in return, her face flushing, "You're really close with everyone there, then?"

Yato shrugged, "Yes and no. It's more like no one believes I actually have a girlfriend, they're convinced you're not real. Mostly Tomone—I mean Mayu, the other assistant manager." After Hiyori tilted her head in confusion at the name switch, he laughed and explained, "When I first started, I thought her name was Tomone for some reason and I've kinda continued to call her that even though I know it's not. And I may or may not go out of my way to annoy her in other ways as well."

"Jeez." She reached up to touch her forehead, "Well, no wonder she thinks something like that."

"Hiyoriiii, but you don't even know what it's like at work." He bumped into her shoulder with a whine, "She picks on me, so it's only fair she gets a taste of her own medicine."

"Sure, sure." She nodded before leading them forward, "C'mon, if we've got everything, we should go ahead and check out. Yukine-kun is probably home by now."

Nodding as well and adjusting the basket on his arm, Yato followed her through the aisles and into the checkout lane. After everything had been paid for and loaded into bags, he and Hiyori both loaded up their arms and started out the door.

However, they didn't get very far before they heard a sharp voice, " _Yato_."

His head snapped around immediately, a shocked expression on his face, and Hiyori followed in curiosity. As she spun, she spotted a woman with gorgeous blonde hair that extended almost to the back of her knees, accompanied by a man of about the same build as Yato with short brunette hair and glasses. The blonde woman had her violet eyes squinted into a harsh glare at Yato while the man looked on at them with a nervous smile.

"Ah, if it isn't the skank and Kazuma." She heard Yato comment from her side, his voice a mixture of amused and nervous.

Hearing the word skank, her eyes immediately moved over to Yato in a questioning stare, though she didn't have much time to scold him before the other man responded.

"Yato, nice to see you too." He seemed to genuinely mean it, his smile growing a bit, though the woman scowled even more and let out a noise of annoyance at Kazuma's kind reply.

Though he ignored the hostility pointed in his direction, Yato's face showed a bit of uncertainty, "So what brings you on this side of town?"

"What's it matter to you?" The blonde woman put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow.

Yato rolled his eyes dramatically, "Just asking a question."

"Just talking a walk around the city, doing a little bit of shopping. This and that." Kazuma answered instead, looking past Yato and at Hiyori, "And who's this?"

Though Yato started to part his lips to introduce her, she interrupted and did it herself, "I'm Iki Hiyori, nice to meet you." More timidly, she added, "I'm Yato's girlfriend."

"Ah, nice to meet you Iki-san. I'm Takimoto Kazuma."

"Koizumi Bishamon." She seemed to look her over with a look of pity, "Good luck with that one."

Hiyori's stomach dropped and her eyes widened at the name Bishamon, realizing that this was the Bisha that Kofuku had talked about. ' _Yato's ex-girlfriend from high school…_ '

She was definitely beautiful, that was for sure; not to mention a few inches taller than her and her body was definitely more curvaceous as well. ' _Then again, it's been a few years…_ ' Hiyori thought to herself, but it didn't stop her from continue to make the comparisons between them.

"Ha ha, very funny." Yato shifted his weight, adjusting the groceries on his arm.

Looking back at Yato, Bishamon retorted, "I'm completely serious."

Kazuma laughed nervously and took a step between them, "So how did you and Iki-san meet?"

"Oh, uh," He blinked and his face relaxed a bit, now seeming a bit sheepish, "We were friends when we were kids and we ran into each other again a while ago. She's been tutoring Yukine as well."

His eyebrows raised in interest, "Oh, that's certainly quite a unique story. How is Yukine doing?"

"He had kind of a hard time at first with moving here, but he's doing better now." Yato answered honestly, "Wish he could see that Suzuha kid more often but can't do much about it." Locking his eyes with Kazuma, he added, "But you know, I'm sure he'd be happy if you showed your face every once in a while too."

"A-ah, yes, I'm sorry about that." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "It's just been very busy since it's my last year at university and with this internship I'm doing right now—"

"I know, I know." Yato waved him off, "Still, with as many parties as Kofuku and Daikoku throw, I'm sure you can make time to show up at one of them at some point."

Kazuma nodded, "I'll definitely try. Well, speaking of, I suppose we should let you get home. It was nice to see you, Yato. Goodbye, Iki-san. Again, it was nice to meet you." He gave a small wave before motioning Bishamon forward. She gave a small nod to them before Kazuma guided her past them and continued down the street.

"Yeah, see ya." Yato looked over his shoulder.

After a moment of hesitation, Hiyori also added, "Goodbye, it was nice to meet you too!"

Letting out a breath, he commented, "Well, definitely didn't expect that…"

As he started walking again, Hiyori followed after him and laughed nervously, "Y-yeah, it was definitely interesting…" Clearing her throat, she added quietly, "Bishamon-san definitely seemed to have a pretty strong distaste for you." After a small pause, she added, "Kofuku-san mentioned her to me a tiny bit."

"Of course she did." He forced a laugh, "So you know she's an ex, then." Humming a bit, he corrected, "I guess I should say _the_ ex, considering she's the only one."

"Y-yeah." She nodded.

"We were never that great of a match to begin with and it didn't last very long." He explained as they walked, quickly adding, "Not that Bishamon is a bad person—she's really not. Even now, if I needed her help with something, she'd still be there, believe it or not. But we just always managed to get on each other's nerves over every little thing to the point it just wasn't even worth it."

Shrugging his shoulders, he continued, "It was high school and we were dumb and weren't really thinking about the long term. To be honest it was kind more about the physical—" He froze and looked back to her with wide eyes, his cheeks quickly gaining color, "…stuff… Shit. Sorry."

Her stomach did a bit of a flip flop again, her mind going back to the comparisons she had been making earlier, "I—it's okay."

"Uh, ah, need to talk about that sort of stuff more in detail eventually, I guess. I didn't mean for it to come out so casually though, it's just too easy talking with you, I guess." Yato looked down at his feet, "And on that note, if you were wondering from anything I just said or anything Kofuku said… I don't want to mess this up."

"So you mean you do want this to last long term." Hiyori replied, her nervousness still building inside her chest but now gaining a warm feeling.

He looked back to her in disbelief, "Of course. Don't you?"

As she met his eyes, she laughed and grinned widely, answering simply, "Yes."

"Jeez, don't scare me like that." Yato shook his head and let out a laugh as well, causing her to laugh more.

"Sorry." She followed him up the stairs of his apartment building.

Once they'd gotten up to his floor, Yato knocked loudly on the door, "Yukine! You home yet?" They waited for a few seconds before they could hear him from inside.

"Yeah, hold on!" After a few moments, he swung the door open and looked to the grocery bags in both of their arms, "I was wondering where you guys were."

"Getting dinner for you." Yato answered as they both stepped in and Yukine started to take some of the groceries from his arms.

Giving him a narrow stare, he answered, "You say that as if you won't be eating it."

"Of course, but the main focus is to provide nutrition for my wonderful kid." He took a step up onto the raised floor and tousled Yukine's hair as he passed him.

The younger boy rolled his eyes before following after him, though he only let out a small noise in response, "Tch."

As she followed after them, she heard Yato call out, "So, Yukine, we actually ended up bumping into Kazuma on the way out…"

"Oh, Kazuma-san, really?" She heard him ask excitedly in response, "What's he been up to?"

"Busy as always. Mentioned an internship and how it's his last year of school, blah blah." She lowered the bags that she had down onto the kitchen counter as she watched Yato start to put some things away, "We didn't get to talk very long since the psycho bitch was there."

" _Yato_." Hiyori's mouth dropped and both of them gave her confused looks in response.

"What?" He blinked before realizing, "Oh."

Yukine waved her off, "It's nothing I haven't heard before, Hiyori."

Letting out a breath of air, she commented tiredly, "I don't know if that makes me feel better or not."

"A-anyway," He continued with a nervous laugh, "Good for Kazuma-san. It would be nice to see him, though."

Yato returned to the groceries, reaching up into a cabinet, "Yeah, I told him that. He said he'd try, but we'll see how that goes."

"Yeah." Yukine nodded quietly before reaching into one of the bags that had yet to be touched.

"So, um…." Hiyori fiddled with the edge of the counter, "If you don't mind me asking, what's the story with both of you and Kazuma-san? You seem to really look up to him, Yukine-kun."

Yukine nodded and smiled, "He tutored me a bit, too, actually. Also he sort of helped convinced me that Yato wasn't as helpless and self-absorbed as he seemed and that I should give him a chance."

" _Hey_." He pouted at Yukine's jab before looking back over to Hiyori, "Guess Kofuku didn't tell you everything, then."

She shook her head and answered timidly, "No, she didn't say much at all. She just only said that Bishamon-san was the only one who you'd ever really brought over to their house aside from me and that despite the fact you didn't really get along anymore, you still saw each other because you were friends with Kazuma-san."

"Ah," He rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, Kazuma was just a classmate and we were sort of acquaintances. Talked a bit here and there, but weren't really close. I met him through Bishamon because they've been friends forever and he sort of followed her around like a lost puppy. Anyway, not long after we called a quits with the relationship, it became pretty clear to me that Kazuma wanted to be more than just friends with her but didn't really know how to go about taking that step, yadda yadda. Told him repeatedly that I was literally the worst person to give advice when it came to anything like that but since I had technically dated Bishamon, he thought I was the perfect person to talk to about it."

Looking down in a mutter, he commented, "Really, the only thing we had in common between us was our shitty pasts but… anyway. Somehow it worked out, Kazuma goes on and on about how he's indebted to me. I don't really think much of it until this kid comes into my life," He waved his arm towards Yukine, "And I know absolutely nothing about how to go about adopting a teenager, so I naturally called up the smart guy who says he's indebted to me. We both had to do a lot of research, but he really helped me through all that legal stuff while Daikoku and Kofuku helped me with the living situation, so yeah." He gave a small shrug of his shoulders, "I guess you could say we're kinda close now. But we'd be a hell of a lot closer if I ever saw the guy." He finished with an annoyed huff.

"I—I'm sure he does the best he can, from the sound of it." She laughed nervously, "But wow, Yato. For saying you're not that great with people, you sure seem to have quite a few really great friends." She bumped into his side playfully, "Even if you don't see them very often."

He looked up at the ceiling, seemingly racking his brain for something, "I—uh, yeah , I guess so…"

"You're the one who always says you don't need a ton of friends, just one will do." Yukine chimed in with a small grin, "Maybe you should take your own advice."

Yato sighed and gave a small smile in return, admitting defeat, "I guess… sometimes I just think I'm more of a burden then a friend? Someone that they all help just because I usually avoid asking anyone for anything until it's to the point where it can't be avoided anymore?" He gave another shrug, "I don't know. Anyway, at this point Kofuku and Daikoku are more like family than anything else. You should call him Ojisan next time and see what his reaction is, Yukine."

"No thanks." He grabbed a juice box out of the fridge before looking back up, "And stop being so hard on yourself. I know I give you crap all the time, but you're not a bad role model, I guess." Yukine continued in a mutter, his cheeks slightly flushed, "We're surviving anyway, and it's not like I'm missing out on anything important."

"Yukineeeeeee." Yato dropped the bag he had in his hand roughly on the counter and immediately went over to smother the younger boy in a hug.

"Uh, um," Hiyori managed to stop the bag from falling off the edge, but failed to stop Yato before he clung onto Yukine, causing him to squeeze his juice box so tightly that a large amount of it poured down onto the floor, "Oh, jeez… Be careful, you two." She immediately started searching for a cleaning rag.

As she ducked down to the floor, Yukine groaned even louder, "See what you did!" Kneeing Yato in the shin and finally getting him to let go, he apologized, "Sorry, Hiyori."

"Sorry, Hiyori." Yato echoed, though his apology was more in a betrayed cry aimed towards Yukine.

"Honestly, just don't touch me and we'll be fine." Yukine brushed off his sleeves and headed for the living room, protectively holding his juice box to his chest.

"But what am I supposed to do when you say adorable things like that?" He leaned against the counter and called after him.

Yukine sat down at the table and flipped open one of his schoolbooks, "Leave me alone." Turning a few pages, he added, "And appreciate it in silence."

Yato lifted his elbows from the counter and went back to putting away the last bag of groceries, answering simply, "You know I can't do that."

"Hug Hiyori instead." He retorted, "You _are_ dating now."

"Yu _-Yukine-kun_!" Hiyori's hands immediately flew up to cover her face which she could tell was quickly turning a bright shade of red. After seeing Yato glance at her and raise his eyebrow in interest, her condition only grew worse.

Laughing mischievously, he admitted, "That's not so bad of a plan."

"Ugh." She buried her face farther into her hands.


	17. Choices

**So you may have noticed the rating has changed. This is my first time writing stuff like this so please have mercy on my soul lmao. Otherwise please enjoy!**

 _Good Enough_

 _I think I might have to call out of work. Yukine is doing even worse so I dunno I dont think I can leave him by himself_

Hiyori read over the text with a deep frown, saying out loud, "Poor Yukine-kun." Yato had mentioned when he texted her that morning that Yukine had caught a cold and had to stay home from school. Unsure of the suggestion that was floating through her head, her fingers hovered over the screen of her cellphone for a moment before she finally managed to type it out.

 **It's up to you, but I could come over and watch over Yukine-kun until you get home from work.**

She let out a breath of air and hit send. It wasn't that she had any doubts about helping Yukine, it was more about Yato's reaction to the suggestion. She considered herself to be fairly good friends with Yukine now that she'd plenty of time with him together, but she understood Yato might still feel weird about it, especially since that was more of parental duty. As a last ditch effort to convince him, she sent another quick text.

 **I AM in school to be a doctor, you know.**

Forcing a smile at her own joke, she stared down at the phone at the phone for his response before she got an incoming call; specifically from Yato. "Oh, crap." She fumbled before hitting the answer button, "H-hi, Yato."

He didn't even bother with a greeting, "Are you sure, Hiyori? It's a Friday and I know you probably had plans with your friends. Plus midterms are coming up and I know—"

"We were just going to watch a movie in Yama's room, it's fine. And I'll bring over my things so I can study, that's not a problem either." She sat up and started arranging her things to put them into her bag. She was really doing it out of nervousness but she supposed it would also help her leave more quickly if he did agree to her watching over Yukine.

Yato seemed to be searching for a way to dissuade her, starting to say something and stopping several times before he finally managed a sentence, "Can Yama-chan or Ami-chan walk with you here? I've got to leave in a few minutes if I'm going to make it on time."

She heard a loud noise which sounded like him either knocking something over or falling over, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just… trying to talk and put my work pants on at the same time and it's not working." He sighed in response. She gave a laugh at his expense before he asked, "So?"

"So what?" Hiyori repeated back to him before she realized, "Oh, sorry. Um, I haven't heard from either of them yet so I don't think they're home… But it's still daylight and I mean, I can't have the three of you lead me around for the rest of my life, so… I don't think it will hurt for me to walk alone this one time."

Yato let out another sigh, though this one was much heavier, "Are you absolutely sure and you're not just doing this because you feel like you have to or something?"

"Yes, I'm sure." She answered firmly, "Now go get ready for work before I start to think you're looking for an excuse _not_ to go."

"Hah." Hiyori could practically hear him roll his eyes, "Maybe true for school, but definitely not for work. Alright, alright, I'm going. Text me when you get here and I'll let Yukine know you're coming."

She nodded and put her bag over her shoulder as she stood up, "I will, hope you have a good day at work."

"Ah, uh, thanks." He answered in a flustered voice, "And thanks for coming over too."

"You're welcome. I'll talk to you later." She flipped the switch for her lights and exited her room before she moved to the scroll through the contacts in her phone, stopping at Yama and hitting the call button.

It only rang a few times before Yama answered, sounding tired and out of breath, "Hiyori! Hey, I'm almost back at the dorm."

"Ah, okay. But listen, Yama-chan, I've got something to tell you." She started walking again, heading for the stairs.

"Go for it." Her friend answered automatically.

"I'm not going to be able to hang out with you and Ami-chan tonight, I'm sorry." She bowed her head as she started down the stairs even though she knew that Yama couldn't see it, "Yukine-kun has a really bad cold and Yato was considering staying home from work so I offered to go over and watch him instead. He's always saying he barely makes ends meet as it is, so I don't want him to have to struggle more if he doesn't have to. Plus I feel like Yukine-kun and I know each other well enough that it isn't weird now. And I'm taking all my books and notes with me so I can study for midterms whenever I've got free time."

Giving a nervous laugh, Yama answered, "It sounds like you're trying to convince me."

"Ah, I'm sorry. I guess it's because I was a bit nervous about asking and I'm still getting over it." Hiyori gave a nervous smile as well.

"Don't worry about it, it's fine! Do you need someone to walk with you there? If you can just wait a few minutes—"

"Mmm, no, its fine. I'm trying to get there as quickly as possible and like I said to Yato, I can't have you guys walk with me everywhere for the rest of my life so I'll be fine just going by myself this time." She answered as she passed through the lobby, "Thanks for the offer, though."

Yama hummed in response, "Okay, just let me know if you change your mind and want me to walk with you the rest of the way or whatever."

Hiyori smiled and nodded, "Thank you, I will. Tell Ami-chan I'm sorry for missing out tonight, please."

"Again, no worries, Hiyori. Call us if you need anything and I hope that Yukine-kun feels better soon. See you later!"

She pushed open the door of the building and started down the street, "Thank you, bye for now."

After she had hung up and started down the street, she could feel a twinge of nervousness. Despite her constantly worrying about inconveniencing them, it was all too easy to get used to always walking with someone. Particularly Yato, since the time that she was able to spend with him was precious. The fact that she was walking to his apartment by herself especially felt a bit lonely despite knowing that Yukine would be there.

Though the walk seemed somewhat longer than usual, she made it to Yato's apartment with relative ease. ' _See, you can do it.'_ She gave a sigh to herself as she stepped off of the stairs and moved towards the door. Hesitantly, she gave a soft knock, hoping Yukine wasn't asleep, "Yukine-kun? It's Hiyori."

"Door's unlocked." She heard him answer, though it was sort of muffled.

Once she had removed her shoes and locked the door, she made her way into the living room, "Sorry to hear you're not feeling so well." As she came around the corner, she saw that they had moved Yukine's futon to the living room and also that Yato had set up the kotatsu for him. He was halfway sitting up, though his lower body was still covered by blankets and partially under the kotatsu, "Is there anything I can get for you?"

"Some more water, I guess." His voice croaked, obviously having a sore throat , "Sorry about this. Sucks you're wasting part of your weekend just to baby me." He sniffled and laid back down, moving under the blankets, "I told Yato I'd be fine by myself, but you know him…"

Hiyori shook her head, "I think he's right, you need to rest. You'll get better a lot faster that way." She dropped her bag next to the kotatsu, "And don't worry about it, it's midterm season. There's no way to _really_ relax, so getting in a little more study time will only do me good." She gave a smile before turning around, "I'll go get that water for you. Are you sure you don't want anything else?"

"Mm, no, thanks." Yukine nodded his head towards the TV, "Is this gonna bother you while you're studying?"

"No, no. I can easily tune that out." She answered as she poured water into a glass, continuing as she started walking back, "My friend Yama-chan always blasts her music at full volume when studying together so I'm kind of used to it."

He sat up and took the glass from her outstretched hand, taking a quick swig before he responded, "If you say so."

Once he put the water down and slipped back under the blankets, Hiyori asked curiously, "How's your appetite? Do you think you'll want something for dinner in a little while?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "It's okay, I guess. I just can't taste anything. But yeah, I'll probably want something later."

She nodded and sat down, starting to dig through her bag for a notebook, "Okay, just let me know whenever you start feeling hungry."

"Thanks, Hiyori." He buried his head more into the pillow, hiding his face.

She smiled to herself as she spread out all of her schoolwork across the table, immediately diving into her studying.

After about an hour of studying, Yukine mentioned that he was hungry and Hiyori made soup for the both of them. By the time she had finished doing the dishes afterward, she came back out into the living room to find that he had drifted off to sleep. She moved closer to him and pulled the blanket up to cover his arm and shoulder before moving back to the other side of the table. Not long into returning to studying, she realized the room was starting to feel a bit chilly and moved her book and notes to the floor, laying across the floor and pulling the kotatsu's blanket over top of her lower body.

Yukine woke up a few hours later to see her still studying, groggily asking, "Don't you ever take breaks?"

"Of course." She answered with a small laugh, "I've been on my phone here and there." She had mostly been scrolling through social media, but she texted Yato a few times while on his break to give him updates about Yukine. As she watched him stand up, she asked, "How are you feeling?"

He tilted his hand back and forth, "Not great but not terrible either. I'm gonna go take more medicine, I'm probably overdue."

"Okay." She nodded, "Do you want me to get you another glass of water?"

"Sure, thanks." He answered, glancing back momentarily before continuing down the hallway.

Hiyori sat up and took his empty glass from the table and went about getting him a new one. She immediately felt the chill in the air again as she left the warmth of the kotatsu. When Yukine returned to the living room area, she lifted her head, "Yukine-kun, are you warm enough? Do you need another blanket?"

He paused to think about it before shaking his head, "No, I think I'm fine. I'm probably going to try and go back to sleep, though. Do you want me to turn the TV off?"

She shook her head as well, carrying his glass and handing it to him as she answered, "I'm going to wrap up my studying and just relax for a little bit before Yato gets back. But if it'll make it hard for you to fall back asleep, then go ahead and turn it off."

"Nah, it's fine." He answered after he had drunk about half of the glass, slowly dragging his feet back towards his futon and setting what was left of his water on the table.

"Alright then." She slipped back under the kotatsu as he returned to his futon, finishing up what she was working on before putting all of her things back into her bag. Folding her arms together, she rested her chin atop them and started to watch whatever channel Yukine had left the TV on. It seemed to be in the middle of a movie, so she didn't really understand what exactly was going on but she tried to keep her attention on it anyway. However, despite her best efforts, she felt her eyelids starting to droop as she got far too comfortable under the kotatsu's warmth.

It wasn't long after that she felt her shoulders being shaken lightly, "Hiyori. Hey, Hiyori, wake up."

"Mm?" She hummed in response, not really having the energy to turn over much less open her eyes.

"I was kinda worried since you weren't answering any texts or calls." He gave a small sigh, his hand lingering at her shoulder, "Yukine is sound asleep too, I guess."

"On vibrate." Hiyori mumbled in response, barely audible, "Sorry."

He shook her again, "C'mon, you've gotta get up. Doesn't your dorm have a curfew or whatever? I don't want you to get in trouble."

She knew he was right but at the same time, it was so difficult to move. It was so warm and comfortable.

Just as he gave another sigh, she could hear her phone start to vibrate, "Seems like Yama-chan has been trying to get a hold of you too." He let go of her and she heard him answer, "Hey, it's Yato. Hiyori fell asleep and had her phone on vibrate. I just got home from work and she's… not waking up very easily. What should I do?"

She started to drift off to sleep again as Yato's side of the conversation remained relatively quiet, minus a few noises of acknowledgement. Though her curiosity was piqued as he asked, "Y-yeah, I can. But are you sure?"

Hiyori felt the pressure of his hand return to her shoulder and she assumed he had hung up her phone. "So, uh, I guess Yama-chan thinks it's best for you to stay here since you apparently sleep like a rock and I can't carry you the whole way home. She said the curfew is generally for show but if anything happens, she'll cover for you." She heard and felt him stand up, "I'll be back in a minute."

As she started to comprehend what he was saying, she managed to at least open her eyes slightly. ' _Stay here…?_ ' She repeated inside her head as she turned her head and looked over at the kitchen. Yato reappeared from the hallway holding something in his hands and she peered up at him groggily, noticing he was still wearing his work clothes.

He kneeled down beside her and held out what looked like pajama pants and a t-shirt, "You can sleep in your own clothes if you want, but I have these if you want something more comfortable." He laid them on the floor next to her before getting up again, "I'll lay out the futon for you."

Though she was still half asleep, she finally managed to lean upward on her side and reached out to touch the clothes in front of her. As her fingers moved over the fabric, the realization was sinking in more and more and her cheeks began to redden. Collecting both energy and courage, she pulled the clothes tight to her chest and snuck past Yato's room as quietly and quickly as possible to duck into the bathroom. Though once she slipped on his shirt and pajama pants, the reality hit her even more and she swallowed. Both the shirt and the pants were a little bit too long of her, to the point she had to roll up the bottom of the pants in order to not trip on them, however they otherwise fit relatively snugly.

Breathless, she put all of her clothes together in a bundle in her arms and snuck back out into the living room to tuck them in her bag. Just as she started down the hallway again, Yato exited the bedroom and locked eyes with her.

"Oh, you finally got up." He gave a grin and she noticed he had a change of clothes in his hands as well, "Well, bed's ready for you so… Goodnight, I guess."

"G-Goodnight." She answered sheepishly and her eyes fluttered shut as he gave a light kiss to her forehead. She opened her eyes to watch him disappear into the bathroom before entering his bedroom. She had been in his room a few times before, usually not for very long. Much like the rest of the apartment, it was fairly barren minus a few capyper things on top of his dresser. Yukine's room was the most decorated, with a few posters and a vast book collection.

Hiyori flipped the light switch off and used the light of her phone to guide her towards the futon. Slipping into it, she immediately was taken over by Yato's smell. She'd always noticed that he smelled nice but since they started dating, it had quickly become one of her most favorite smells. It was warm and comforting, much like him, and she was immediately extremely comfortable as she pulled the blanket up to her neck.

She closed her eyes and sunk down into the pillow before she heard the creak of the bathroom door and opened them back again. As Yato passed by the room with another quick smile, she questioned out loud, "Wait, where are you going to sleep?"

He stopped and took a step back, leaning into the doorway, "On the floor in the living room, like you were, I guess."

"But you've got an even longer shift at work tomorrow. Won't you hurt your back sleeping on the floor?" She propped herself up on her elbow.

"Uh… Maybe…" He rubbed the back of his neck, "But it's not like I'm going to make you sleep on the floor and aside from possibly getting me sick, I'm pretty sure Yukine would literally beat me up if I tried to share his bed."

Hiyori was quiet and Yato started to lean away from the door before she said quietly, "Then share with me."

"Ah, uh. I don't know." He answered hesitantly, "Plus I mean these futons are really only made for one person…"

"I mean, I'd rather us both get a somewhat okay night of sleep rather than just me sleeping comfortably and you on the floor." She gripped the edge of the blanket and looked down at her hand, feeling somewhat self-conscious.

He was quiet for a moment before answering, "… I guess you've got a point. I'm just going to check on Yukine again real quick."

Hiyori moved further into the bed, her chest tight in anticipation and her heart beating fast. She was far from tired now as she waited for Yato to come back into the room, a mix of nervous and elated. Her eyes were glued to the doorway and it felt like forever as she watched for movement, practically having to remind herself to breathe.

She exhaled as he entered the room again, lingering by the door with his hand on it, "Is it alright if I close the door or do you want me to leave it cracked? I left the light on for Yukine but it kind of makes it hard for me to sleep."

"You can close it." She answered quietly, feeling like her voice was just barely above a whisper.

Still, he managed to hear her somehow. After shutting the door, he used the light from his phone to walk across the room as well and Hiyori held her hand over her eyes to block out the bright light. "Sorry." He sat down and laid down his phone above the futon, facing it downward. As he tried to crawl under the blanket, his knee collided roughly with her thigh.

"Ouch." She flinched away.

"Sorry, sorry." He repeated once again. Once he was entirely underneath the blanket as well, he commented, "I told you it'd be a tight fit."

She smiled as she could feel his breath on her nose, "Yeah, I know."

His blue eyes glowed in the soft moonlight that leaked in through the tiny window above them as he smiled back at her, "Just remember you're the one who asked for this if I accidentally manage to kick you or whack you with my arm in my sleep."

"Oh, great." Hiyori gave a joking scoff, "Maybe you should have told me this beforehand."

He quirked an eyebrow, "If you're awake now, we could still walk back to your dorm building."

She shook her head and reached out to tug against his shirt, pulling herself closer to him and resting her hands on his chest, "I want to stay." It was far more bold than she would usually be, but she was already in his bed and completely overwhelmed by his scent and warmth so she figured there wasn't much to lose.

Yato didn't say anything but he reached one arm around her middle and the other behind her head, holding her close, though she could feel his lips curved into a smile against her cheek as he leaned in towards her.

After he kissed her cheek, she tilted her head upward to meet her lips with his and he immediately took the hint, kissing her softly. Hiyori kissed him back as her hand trailed over his collarbone and behind his neck, playing with the ends of his hair affectionately. Though it hadn't originally been her intention, it didn't take long before she found herself initiating a much deeper kiss, her tongue sneaking just past his lips.

He returned her affection, pulling her even more crushingly tight against himself, but she found she didn't mind much. Shortly after, his fingertips played with the hem of her borrowed t-shirt before he pulled away briefly, his bright eyes shining in the dark to search for her approval, which she gave with a quick nod.

Hiyori gave a contented hum as his warm fingertips danced across the skin of her side and back. They'd done this once before, but not for long, considering they almost always had to be wary about Yukine coming home from school. Once she'd copied him and also slipped her hand just below his shirt and across the planes of his stomach, he gave a small grunt against her lips. A few moments later his mouth started to wander towards her jaw, his kisses light, but it felt like her skin was aflame as he trailed down to her collarbone. Once there, he applied much more pressure and suckled her skin until she grasped the back of his t-shirt tightly as her breath caught in her throat.

Yato pulled away from her briefly, lifting his head to find her lips again while also propping himself up so that he was leaning over her with his right knee in the space between her legs. His one hand gripped her hip while the other continued to make a tortuously slow path around her stomach before moving upward, stopping just below her chest. He parted from her again but his face hovered close to hers, waiting until her eyes fluttered open and locked with his. "Can I…?" He inched his index finger just a little bit higher, tapping gently against her skin.

Hiyori parted her lips in awe of him, her head spinning and feeling completely dazed. She didn't even begin to consider that they would do anything more than just kiss tonight and yet she didn't feel rushed in the slightest, either. Ever since the beginning of their relationship, he had always taken the time to pause and see how she was feeling; even when it'd been her to initiate things. It was extremely sweet and it made her heart melt a little more each time.

She reached upward to cup the side of his face, pressing her lips to his before answering quietly, "Yes."

He wasted no time, kissing her eagerly in return as his splayed out hand creeped upward to her breast. Her breath caught in her throat as his hand gently skimmed over her, her skin igniting everywhere that he touched. As his thumb passed over her nipple, she shivered and gasped against his lips. As he reached upward to cup her other breast, she sighed and arched her back closer to him, her thoughts effectively coming to a halt.

Between his messaging and stroking, she didn't even realize that she had practically wrapped her legs around his until he pulled away, only focused on the need to be even closer. She felt a bit cold as his hands slipped from beneath her shirt, but he immediately returned them to her side as he laid back down.

He kissed her again, this time less urgently, taking a minute before he explained breathlessly, "Don't want to let it get too far. Plus it's late and Yukine is here so don't want to push our luck."

"Mmm," She hummed with a small nod, giving another kiss, "I understand." She pulled away and buried her head into the crook of his neck, "I didn't really mean for that to happen; I'm making you lose sleep you need."

Yato let out a laugh and she felt his chin rest a top her head, "Pretty sure you're not the only one to blame here, Hiyori."

"Maybe not, but I should have said something or stopped myself and I didn't." She answered against his skin.

"Guess I'm just that irresistible." Hiyori raised her head and gave him an incredulous look to which he responded, "I'm _joking_. But like I said, it wasn't just you, I could have too. Just… didn't want to." He brushed his fingers down her side, "I'm fine with losing a bit of sleep."

"So you're a bad influence and you're making me one too." She closed her eyes again, snuggling against his chest.

She heard him scoff before he answered, "Yeah, sure. Whatever you say." It was quite for a minute before she heard him call, "Hey, Hiyori?"

"Hmm?" Hiyori blinked her eyes open but didn't shift from her position, listening intently.

"Goodnight." He reached upward to run his fingers through her hair.

Smiling and shutting her eyes, she repeated, "Goodnight."


	18. Morning

**Sorry this is a bit short! I really wanted to try and finish it before the convention I went to a few days ago but I ended up not making that goal. Also, tbh, this chapter wasn't really in the story planning and is sort of like an in between chapter lol. Also came up with an idea for later down the road that I'm sure you guys will like so yayyy. Anyway, here you go!**

 _Good Enough_

She was the first to wake up, the warmth of his body and the weight of his arm across her middle a reminder of her situation without even have to open her eyes. Thankfully, he hadn't accidentally kicked or elbowed her in his sleep like he mentioned, but she was certainly stuck in her current position; her legs wedged and tangled with his in a way that made it nearly impossible to shift.

When she fluttered her eyes open and slightly lifted her head to peer around, she realized the room was still mostly dark but the far corner was illuminated by sunlight. Closing her eyes again, she thought, ' _It's still pretty early and I kind of want to go back to sleep, but Yato is probably getting up soon and I need to get home…_ '

She tilted her head backward to peek up at him, his face completely relaxed and his small short breaths just barely reaching the corner of her forehead. She was almost tempted to reach out and brush the hair out of his face, but she decided against it so that she wouldn't wake him up. Instead she lowered her head and snuggled up against him, closing her eyes again and letting out a breath.

Not much longer after that, Yato's phone began to give off a loud and obnoxious melody. He groaned and reached blindly, snapping his phone open and closed again to shut off the noise. As he brought his arm back towards himself, his elbow bumped against the top of her head.

"Owww…" She whined loudly, looking up to give him a slight glare.

"Shit." He grimaced and reached back over to stroke her hair, "Sorry…"

"We were doing so well, too." She sighed with a shake of her head.

He gave her a confused look, "What?"

"You didn't hit me or anything in your sleep, only when you were awake." Hiyori answered quietly, giving a fake pout.

"It's not like I did it on purposeee." Yato whined in return and pressed his forehead to hers, "I'm sorry."

She smiled widely as she locked her eyes with his, "And I'm just joking." They stared at each other momentarily before she asked, "What time do you have to leave for work?"

"In about two hours. I always make breakfast for me and Yukine on the weekends since I have a little more time." He pulled back from her, "You can stay for that too, if you want. But if you're ready to go home—"

"Sure. I can help too." She nodded.

He made a face and looked off towards the wall, "Ehhh, we'll see. That kitchen gets crowded easily."

"Whatever you say." She hummed tiredly.

He untangled his legs from her and slipped out of the futon carefully before standing up, "You can sleep in and I'll wake you up when the food's ready."

Hiyori rubbed her eyes, "Thanks, but I'm probably too awake now."

He shrugged as he opened the door, "Either way, take your time."

"Thanks." She nodded, closing them again as he made his way into the hall. Immediately missing his warmth she tucked her legs in closer to herself and turned her head, snuggling into the pillow. The thought of going back to sleep was fairly tempting but she knew she had to get up. Exhaling, she pushed down the blanket and slid out of the futon. Feeling a little cold, she wrapped her arms around herself as she walked out into the hallway where she immediately found herself staring into a set of orange eyes.

Yukine looked up at her with a blank face and she immediately flushed, "Yu-Yukine-kun, good morning."

"Morning." He answered tiredly before doing a double take, "Wait, Hiyori!? What—"

"You sound like you're feeling better." She commented quietly, temporarily changing the subject before she continued with a sigh, "I fell asleep under the kotatsu yesterday and Yato was having a hard time waking me up so he, um, let me stay here last night." Her mouth felt extremely dry and her heart raced, not knowing exactly what she was supposed to say.

Yato walked out into the hall finally and she immediately snapped her head in his direction, her eyes wide and questioning. He gave her a confused look in return until he looked between her and Yukine, parting his lips in understanding. "Ah, hah." He gave a nervous laugh, "Mornin', Yukine… Uh, Hiyori—"

The blonde boy was already flushed but he was turning an even darker shade of red as he walked past Yato and towards the bathroom, "I'm not a kid, you don't have to explain."

"But I—we—" Hiyori stuttered, but by that point Yukine had already shut the door. Letting out a heavy sigh, she looked back to Yato and mumbled, "Sorry."

"I would say I could talk to him later, but I dunno if he'd believe me anyway." He rubbed the back of his neck, a bit pink as well, "But I guess it doesn't really matter what he thinks we did; it's not like he heard or saw anything."

Her face was so hot she practically could feel steam coming off of herself as she whispered, "B-but what if he did hear something…"

Yato started towards the kitchen, "He didn't know you were here till he saw you this morning, right?"

"I think so." She mumbled in response, following after him.

"Then we're fine!" He glanced back with a quick flash of a smile.

Hiyori let out another sigh, turning into the living room and stating, "Let me know if you need help, otherwise I'm going to go hide my face in my hands for the next ten minutes."

"Yukine probably won't look you in the eye for a while anyway, so you don't have to hide." He answered back nonchalantly as he started to lay out everything onto the kitchen counter.

"That just makes me feel worse." She collapsed onto her knees beside the table, pouting as she crossed her arms across the tabletop and laid her head down onto them.

"Like he said, he's a first year in high school. It's not like we corrupted him or anything, he made the assumption on his own that we ha—heyyyy, Yukine."

Hiyori peeked upward as Yukine made an annoyed grunt in response shortly before heading towards where she sat. As he did, she immediately hid her face again, though couldn't stop herself from looking again just a few moments later. He didn't look upset as he flipped through the TV channels, just a bit uncomfortable as if he didn't know what to say.

' _Not that I do either…_ ' She bit her lip and reached for her phone, scrolling through the notifications that she had missed. Seeing the multiple calls and texts from Yama and Yato both, she frowned, ' _Wow, no wonder they were worried about me_.' She moved to her inbox and went to message Yama, smiling sheepishly to herself.

 **Hey, Yama-chan, thanks for offering to cover for me last night. I guess midterm season is getting to me more than I thought. I'm staying for breakfast but I should be home soon. I'll text you again when I'm leaving Yato's apartment. Also I'm sorry if this wakes you up. I know it's a little early, but I know you worried about me last night.**

She had barely opened up the Twitter app when the chime went off to alert her that Yama had returned her text.

 _You did wake me up but its okay! Anything exciting happen? ;3_

Hiyori felt the blush start to return to her cheeks.

… **You could say that.**

 _-gasp- Hiyoriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! Naughty naughty. Hmmm are you sure you didn't end up staying there on purpose?_

 **No! I swear we were just going to sleep and things just.. got a little heated for a few minutes I guess is the best way to put it I don't know. Now things are kind of awkward with Yukine-kun since I stayed over; he of course thinks we slept SLEPT together probably so ugh yeah it's just kind of weird right now…**

She looked over at Yukine, who now looked more relaxed but his focus was deep into the TV screen; obviously still trying hard to not meet her eyes for any reason.

 _It'll be okay! Plus even if you didnt really do anything at least getting the awkwardness out of the way early yknow?_

Hiyori inhaled softly before she typed her response.

 **I guess so… still, I hate when things are this awkward. Anyway, I'll see you soon. I'm going to go see if I can beg Yato to let me help with breakfast so I can distract myself.**

 _Good luuuckkk_

She sat her phone down on the table and rose slowly, dragging her feet as she made her way into the kitchen, "Are you sure you don't need any help?"

"Nah, it'll be done in a few minutes, don't worry about it." He answered with a small flicker of her eyes towards her.

"I can't even help set out plates or anything for you?" She lingered at the counter.

He gave her a questioning look but shrugged, "I guess you can."

Wordlessly, she moved towards the cabinets and started searching for the things she thought he might need. Thankfully the fact that she wasn't too familiar with where he kept everything made the task challenging enough that that she could put her complete focus into it. By the time she was finished, the food was ready to eat, and all three of them quickly settled into silence as they turned their attention to their food.

Even when Yato tried to force a little bit of conversation, Yukine would only answer in short mumbles. It was only after she had changed back into her own clothes and was getting ready to leave that he finally really talked to her, though a light blush dusted his cheeks, "Uh, thanks for everything you did yesterday…" He shifted his feet and looked away, "I am feeling better."

A relieved smile quickly took over her face, "Thank goodness! I'm so glad." Her smile faltering a bit, she continued quietly, "I'm sorry about the awkwardness. We really didn't—"

He waved her off before he started towards his room, "It's fine. See you on Monday, Hiyori."

"Right. See you then." She nodded, lingering in the hallway as she waited for Yato to finish getting ready for work. When he finally emerged in a green and white striped shirt and dress pants, she parted her lips and did her best to suppress a small laugh.

He immediately gave her a sour face in return, "Yeah, it's ugly, I get it."

A smile took over her face before she reached out to touch his shoulder consolingly, "Sorry. But I know you don't get to pick what you wear."

"At least now you know no one will flirt with me at work." He answered, automatically adding, "Not that they would anyway, but you know."

She sighed and her gentle touch turned into a push as she moved behind him, urging him toward the door, "Let's go."

He turned his head back to glance at her questioningly, "What?"

"Not that I would exactly like people to flirt with you," She answered as she started to slip on her shoes, a slight blush on her cheeks, "But I don't want you to put yourself down, either."

His eyebrows moved upward with intrigue and a small smirk took over his lips as he leaned in towards her, "Are you the jealous type, Hiyori?"

"I, I—" She felt herself warm up even more and her thoughts wandered to how she felt when they had run into Bishamon, stuttering, "I don't know."

"Well, you don't have to worry." Yato pulled away and his smirk faded into a genuine and soft smile as he moved towards his own shoes.

"T-thanks." She stuttered again with a small nod, letting out a surprised squeak when he reached over to hold the back of her head.

Pressing his lips to her forehead in a quick peck, he mumbled, "Sorry for getting you flustered."

Hiyori let out a breath, "It's not the first time and I'm sure it won't be the last." As they stepped out of the front door and closed it behind them, she admitted, "But needless to say, I think I need to go back to my dorm and recover from this morning. I was kind of lightheaded after that awkward situation with Yukine-kun."

"You were really that worried about it?" He blinked in surprise.

"Of course! I don't want things to be awkward between us." She entangled her fingers together, fiddling with them, "Even if he's not a young child and he jumped to his own conclusions, I still don't want to make him uncomfortable like that. Maybe I should apologize…"

Yato held his hands out and waved them rapidly to dissuade her, "I'll talk to him later, okay? I really don't think it's a big of a deal as you're making it, but now you're starting to worry me a bit too. Anyway, you didn't intend to fall asleep and stay the night. Not to mention we didn't really plan for things to—"

She cleared her throat loudly, interrupting, "I know, but still. But yeah, I guess if you think it's better for you to talk to him then do that."

"Alright, alright." He paused at the corner of the street, commenting, "Guess this is where we part ways. You alright with walking alone again?"

"Mmm." She nodded and bumped her shoulder against his arm, "I'll see you on Monday."

"See you in about an hour on Twitter when I'm on my break." He corrected with a grin, starting to walk away.

She gave a sheepish laugh, "Maybe. I don't know, I think Yama-chan and Ami-chan are probably going to harass me about last night first."

"Oh." He took a step backward, wincing sympathetically, "Well, good luck with that."

"Yeah, thanks. Hope you have a good shift at work." She gave a small wave.

He let out a breath though gave a small smile in return, "As good as it can get, anyway, I guess. Thanks." With that, he turned around and headed off and she did the same.

She had only taken a few steps before her phone went off in her pocket. Picking up, she answered, "Hey, Yama-chan. I'm on my way back now."

"Good, good. I was gonna ask about that but the other thing, Hiyori—I was thinking. You prooooobaaaaaablyyyyy wanna change as soon as possible as you get home since you're kinda doing the walk of shame in a way, if you catch my drift."

Hiyori let out a high pitched noise in response before asking, "Do you really think someone would notice?"

"Maybe, maybe not. But better to be safe than sorry, I guess." Yama answered.

"Thanks… I guess I'll see you after I go upstairs, then." She let out a sigh, "Jeez. Maybe I would have had the energy to walk home if I would have considered all the repercussions of staying."

Yama immediately interrupted her, "Shush, it's fine. We're in college, remember? Besides, a lot of other people do a lot worse—I just know you get embarrassed easily so I wanted to give you a heads up in case you didn't think about it."

"And of course I didn't, so yes, thank you." Hiyori gave another sigh, holding her arms close to herself as she continued walking to attempt and somewhat hide her clothes, "I'll see you soon."


	19. Guessing

**I know this is really short and I know it took such a long time to update and I'm so sorry. My job has basically taken over my life and I'm trying to get a different one because basically I've turned back into an anxious mess. I was doing really well for a while so taking steps back like this has been really frustrating and I've just been mentally and physically exhausted so inspiration hasn't come to me very easily. Thank you for your patience and support and I hope that by the time the next chapter is done that I'll be in a better place.**

 _Good Enough_

"So how did you know about this place again?" Yato asked curiously as they exited the shop and started down the sidewalk.

"Yama-chan, Ami-chan, and I have stopped in a few times." She looked down at the plastic bag which held a small cake, "But we've only ever gotten single pieces or small pastries, so I'm actually a bit excited to finally get a whole cake."

Yato sighed and shoved his hands into his coat pockets, "Are you sure you don't want any money? I still feel bad letting you pay for the whole thing."

Hiyori shook her head insistently, "No, definitely not. This is the least I could do, you know, especially since I couldn't go with you two to Kofuku-san and Daikoku-san's house this weekend."

Both boys had asked her a little over a week ago after a tutoring session and dinner and she regretfully had to turn them down due to a weekend field trip to a hospital for one of her classes to get more practical experience. Shortly after, she had suggested the idea to Yato that they could have a special dinner or something of the sort on Yukine's actual birthday since it fell on one of their tutoring days. Of course, to make it more special, the two of them had kept it a surprise.

"I didn't really know what to get him either, to be honest…" She admitted hesitantly with a slight shrug of her shoulders, "So I just gave him a bit of money with the card I got for him."

"That's probably the safest bet anyway. For me, it's a hit or miss every year; he either loves it or hates it." With a tired expression, he added, "With hating it being the more common response. He usually appreciates the sentiment, at least."

Hiyori gave a small smile, "Yukine-kun is definitely very unique. I know he always loves to get new clothes, but yeah, I wasn't sure if I would be able to pick out something that was his style."

"Unique is definitely the word." He sighed and scratched his head, "Guess at least he's good with his money, you wouldn't be able to tell that we're poor if you look in his closet. But a lot of that comes from Kofuku and Daikoku spoiling him when we still lived there."

"I can't blame them. If it weren't for you, I probably would too." She admitted sheepishly.

Yato hung his head, "Yeesh, if only I had that kid's talent with people. He'll probably be some successful business guy tricking people out of their money with them thanking him for doing it."

She immediately shook her head, "Mmm, I think Yukine-kun is too kind-hearted for something like that. But I'm sure he will be successful in some way, for sure. He's very hardworking and dedicated."

With a small forced laugh, he commented, "Well, I hope you two remember me when you're both living the life and bringing in all that money."

"Even after all this work, is it your plan to become the equivalent of a housewife or something?" Hiyori squinted her eyes at him questioningly.

His eyebrows raising, he answered, "That actually wasn't what I meant. But y'know, I kinda like that idea, just staying at home with the kids and cleaning and fixing stuff around the house. Not bad at all."

Blushing, she looked away, "What did you mean then?"

"Oh. Er… It was just a joke, don't worry about it." She noticed Yato passing her from the corner of her eye, picking up his pace, "Let's hurry up so we've got time to cook."

Hiyori let out a small annoyed huff at his avoidance of the question before following after him. And the more she thought about it, the more the frown on her face grew. ' _He didn't mean… both of us leaving him behind, right?_ ' She stared forward at the back of his head, almost feeling a little bit insulted, ' _He should know better than that._ '

They didn't talk much the rest of the way home or even as they entered the apartment as Yato had switched into rush mode completely. By the time she had unloaded one bag of groceries, he had done three. She wanted to be able to blame it on the fact that he worked at a grocery store and was probably much more efficient than she was at that sort of thing, but she also couldn't help but feel he was doing it to still avoid the conversation from earlier.

Not able to take it anymore, she reached out to grab one of his wrists, calling out softly, "Yato."

"Hm?" His eyes slowly lifted to meet hers and he stood up a bit straighter.

Hiyori leaned into him and pressed a gentle kiss against his lips. "I'm… just guessing. But what you're worried about; we're not going anywhere. Especially over something so dumb as money."

His mouth opened in surprise at first but then he gave a small smile, "So you figured it out that easily, huh? Guess I'm not so great at hiding things." He rubbed the back of his neck, "It's just a hard habit to break when you've been passed around by so many people."

She nodded and pulled away from him, "I know, I just want to reassure you." She took a small breath, "And as for Yukine-kun, even though you joke about it, I'm not sure if it really has sunk in for you. You are his family, you know; and I don't just mean because of legal paperwork. He loves you."

"I know he does, it's just one of those things." His eyes flickered off to the side, "Believe me, I'm working on it; accepting everything that I have. Because the last thing I wanna do is lose it all because I'm too stupid to believe what's right in front of me."

"Okay." She nodded again and gave a small smile, "Just tell me if you ever need any help."

"It might be more like telling you I need someone to kick my ass, but okay. Will do." He shifted back to working on the food.

With a laugh, she answered, "Hey, I can do that too."

He looked at her doubtfully, "Really?"

"You really think I haven't learned anything from all these years of watching wrestling?" She put her hands on her hips.

He shrugged, "I mean, I guess..."

Hiyori started to roll up her sleeves, "I can show you right here, right now."

"Later, focus on cooking for the moment." Yato looked back to the countertop as he answered with a flat tone.

Blushing again, Hiyori moved towards the cutting board, "Right, right."

They were almost done cooking when they heard the door start to swing open and Yukine's voice come from the hallway, "I'm home!"

"Welcome home!" Yato and Hiyori answered simultaneously, working quickly to try and get things put into bowls.

"What smells so good?" Yukine asked curiously as he came around to corner, greeted by Yato and Hiyori with their hair tied up and both covered in all sorts of things; some accidental, some purposely flung at each other for fun.

"Happy Birthday!" Yato announced cheerfully, outstretching his arms to show off the dinner they'd prepared.

Yukine blinked in confusion, suddenly sounding very sheepish, "O-oh, you did this all for me?"

"Of course!" Hiyori answered with a wide grin, adding, "And needless to say, no tutoring today… unless you _really_ want to. But I think you should just enjoy your birthday."

The shock finally faded from his face and he grinned widely, "Thank you."

"What about me?" Yato questioned in a pained tone from his side.

Yukine's eyes moved over to him tiredly, asking, "It was Hiyori's idea, right?"

She stayed quiet and Yato hesitated before answering, "Y-yeah, but still! We did it together!"

"Fine, fine." The younger boy finally relented, "Thank you. Now can we eat? I'm honestly starving."

Yato's face brightened up again, answering automatically, "Yeah, of course. Go sit down."

Yukine smiled back in earnest briefly before turning and heading into the living room, dropping his backpack to the floor and shrugging off his school jacket.

"I can finish up these last few things if you want to start taking things over to the table." Hiyori suggested as she stirred a pot, looking up to him.

He blinked and nodded, "Ahh, yeah, that works. Thanks." He bent down to swoop up a few of the dishes, carrying them over and commenting as he sat them down in front of Yukine, "I know it's your birthday but even if it smells good, you've gotta wait till all of us sit down."

"I know _that_." Yukine growled back automatically, "I'm not a little kid."

"I know, you're sixteen now," Yato tousled Yukine's hair before dramatically wiping his eyes, "You're growing up so fast."

Yukine rolled his eyes, "Ugh."

"You can go ahead and eat now." Hiyori put down the last of the food on the table and gave an apologetic smile.

He gave a relieved sigh in response and immediately reached for the nearest bowl, "Thank you."

Yato reluctantly stepped back with a pout before sitting down and starting to pick out food for himself.

A few minutes into eating, Yukine repeated, "Thanks again, for all of this." He looked directly at Hiyori, "I still wish you could make it to Kofuku-san's this weekend, it'd be nice if you could meet Suzuha."

Hiyori gave an apologetic smile, "I know, I wish I could go too. But I'm sure I'll meet him soon; maybe sometime while we're on break for New Year's."

"Yeah." He smiled happily, returning to his food.

She briefly caught Yato making a face, but he returned to his food the moment her glance had moved towards him. She parted her lips and tilted her head questioningly before deciding to let it slide. When they had finished eating and started to do the dishes, he voiced his concern.

"Aren't you going home for break?" He focused his eyes on her while absentmindedly scrubbing the plate in his hand.

She gave a confused nod, "Yeah…" Hiyori paused before continuing, "But I'll be back for a few days before the semester starts up again, if that's what you're asking."

"Mm. Okay." He nodded as well before lowering his voice, his eyes falling back towards the sink, "Sorry, it's just that Yukine gets pretty easily disappointed when people don't follow through after saying things like that; like with Kazuma."

Hiyori bit her lip and nodded again, "Ah, I understand." Her eyes glanced over to the living room where Yukine was happily scrolling through a website on Yato's laptop while also occasionally looking over to the TV.

"Not that you don't keep your promises or anything like that." Yato looked remorseful as his head snapped upward again to meet her eyes, "I didn't mean—"

She held up her hand to shush him, "Don't worry, I get it." Going back to her dish as well, she added, "I wouldn't want to make him feel that way, so I appreciate you telling me."

He let out a breath of air before giving a small laugh at himself, "You would think that after starting to date you, I'd worry less about the stuff I say. But that's not the case at all."

Hiyori shrugged and bumped into his side playfully, "It's not like I can't say the same. We're still getting to know each other, really, when you think about it."

"So what secrets are you hiding from me?" Yato raised his eyebrows in mock concern.

She eyed him carefully before flicking a tiny bit of water at him, teasing, "Guess you'll have to find out."

"Stooooooooooop fliiiiiirtiiiiiiiiiiingggggggggg." Yukine groaned loudly from the living room and caught both of their attention. He was giving both of them a distasteful look as he continued, "Or go back to whispering so I can't hear it."

"Sorry." Hiyori answered bashfully, quickly looking back down to the sink.

Yato scoffed before answering loudly, "Alright, I'll listen this time because it's your birthday. But next time, you're out of luck."

"Whatever." Yukine rolled his eyes and went back to the computer, his expression not taking long to mellow out into a small smile again.

Free of his gaze, Yato looked back to Hiyori with a smug grin before swiftly pressing a kiss against her forehead. She smiled back adoringly, at least until he stuck his wet hand on the back of her bare neck. She did her best to keep quiet, though she looked up to him with her mouth open wide in disbelief. He only wiggled his eyebrows in response, his smug expression still there.


	20. Looking Back

**Sorry this is kind of short again, but at least I managed to write it in decent time! I didn't really have a ton planned out for this chapter so it was mostly just whatever my brain churned out as I was writing haha. Still it's pretty fluffy and cute so hopefully you guys enjoy it.**

 _Good Enough_

"Thanks for finally taking me out to dinner," Hiyori bumped her shoulder against Yato's as they exited the restaurant, adding in a teasing tone, "Even though you technically rejected me when I first asked."

He gave a pout in return, followed by a sigh, "Aw, come on. You know why I did; it's not like I _wanted_ to say no."

"I know, I'm just teasing." She answered before matching his pout, "But my self-esteem definitely took a hit that day. It took a lot for me to ask you out, you know."

"It must not have taken too big of a hit, cuz it wasn't too long before you tried again and were successful." Yato reached up to rub his chin in an intrigued fashion, commenting, "I must be pretty irresistible for you to be so persistent."

She let out a huff and looked off to the side of the street, "Believe me, I would have given up if it weren't for Ami-chan, Yama-chan, Kofuku-san, and Yukine-kun all telling me that you _were_ interested, because I was really doubting it after that point. I was fine with just being friends, but you know…" She trailed off with a small pout.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Hiyori…" She looked back up to see him run a hand through his hair, meeting her eyes once he saw she had looked back, "I'm just sort of used to being emotionally distant with people at this point as a self-defense mechanism, I guess. But I was interested, even the first day we ran into each other. I was joking when I asked if you were asking me on a date, but in a way, I kind of hoped you were." He smiled sheepishly and let out a small laugh, "Even though I knew you'd never be that blunt—or at least I _thought_. As it turns out, I guess you are that blunt."

"Only because you gave me no other choice." She fired back automatically before letting out a breath and giving a small smile, "But… that's nice to know."

He smiled back briefly before waving his hand across the street, "Want to go sit in the square for a bit? I'm sure it's all decked out for Christmas."

"Sure." She nodded eagerly and followed after him.

As they crossed the street, Yato contemplated aloud, "Maybe I should have waited to take you out to dinner until actual Christmas Eve, since that's supposed to be more romantic and stuff…"

Hiyori shrugged, "Everything's decorated already and I'm sure a lot of places are completely booked specifically because it's a popular date night. Not to mention they probably raise the prices because of that." As they walked she looked up at the Christmas lights wrapped around the street lamps, as well as the fairly large tree that they had put in the center of the square. There were a few other groups of people sitting outside at the tables despite the cold, a few being couples like them with others being groups of kids deciding where they should go next.

As they sat down, he smiled nervously as he started, "Well, it may not exactly be romantic, but you're welcome to come to Kofuku's on Christmas. In fact, it might be the opposite of romantic; Kofuku will be drinking, I'm sure, and if Kazuma and Bishamon show up, then she'll probably cause some chaos too."

"I'd love to go." She answered excitedly, "I'm going to have to attend one of these infamous parties eventually, you know. You can't protect me forever."

Yato let out a laugh at that, "Hah, right."

Tapping her fingers against the table lightly, she asked, "I can slightly imagine what Kofuku-san will be like drunk knowing her personality, but what do you mean about Bishamon-san?"

He put his elbow up on the table and leaned into his palm, "Depends. She either wants to fight, and I mean like for real physically fight, or she'll cry over things that happened a million years ago. Sometimes both."

"F-fight?" Hiyori repeated worriedly as she tried to see if he was joking or not. But judging by his expression, he was telling the truth.

His eyes studied her curiously before he parted his lips in realization and gave a small smile, "Oh, don't worry. She'll probably protect you like a mother hen; it's me that she'll lunge for." He leaned back into his chair, "In fact, she might go on a rant of how terrible of a boyfriend I was and the things to look out for, so on and so forth." He waved his hand before thinking out loud, "Hah, maybe it's best if she and Kazuma _don't_ show up. I'd like for you to still love me after this."

"Pfft. If I haven't been scared off yet, I don't think it's going to happen." She gave a playful roll of her eyes.

Yato shrugged and leaned back in his chair, dragging out, "I dunnoooo…"

"Seriously." Hiyori crossed her arms over the top of the table and leaned towards him, "I think you're safe." Giving a light sigh, she added, "I'm the one who should be worried. Once I introduce you to my parents formally as my boyfriend, you might not want to stick around. I mean, you already know how my mom is."

"Yeaaaaaah." He looked off to the side, "Maybe we should just put that off for a few years and elope or something."

" _Yato_." She answered sharply, her cheeks quickly warming.

He looked back to her with a small grin, "Kidding, kidding." He lowered his voice and muttered,"…Sort of, anyway."

Hiyori rolled her eyes and huffed, "It's too early to talk about those kinds of things."

"So you'd say no if I asked you to marry me tonight?" He looked her over playfully, his smile widening as she continued to grow more and more sheepish, "I mean, we're alone for once and we've got this romantic atmosphere and everything. Maybe that was my intention all along."

Completely crimson, she hid her face and answered, "Shut up! And if you were being serious, I'd tell you it's too soon and especially if you had a ring or something I'd tell you to take it back because you need that money. That's my answer."

"Wow, you really won't play along at all." She felt him reach out to twist a strand of her hair and peeked up at him sheepishly. His grin hadn't faded in the slightest, "But then again, watching you react is pretty fun."

She looked up at him with an annoyed stare, "How do you from joking that you want me to still date you after Kofuku-san's Christmas party to joking about proposing to me tonight?"

"Well proposing to you tonight would be more of a guarantee that you'd stick around, right?" He quirked an eyebrow, his smile still not faltering.

Hiyori closed her eyes and let out a breath of air, "You are unbelievable."

"Why, thank you!" He answered in a loud and enthusiastic tone, causing her to shoot him another glance before shaking her head.

"I would try to argue that that wasn't a compliment, but I can't really." She answered in a mumble.

Yato scooted her chair closer to her and nuzzled his head against her cheek, "Aw, you _do_ love me."

"Y-Yato!" Whatever red tint had faded away from before quickly returned, "We're in public."

He sighed, "Man, I wish Japan wasn't so uptight about all that. I mean like I understand being disgusted by people making out in public but like, I dunno, not even really being able to hold hands or _anything_ kinda sucks."

"Holding hands makes it difficult for other people walking around you. And… I don't know, I'm fine with it. I understand why it could make people feel uncomfortable." She responded with a small shrug.

"Well, Miss Prim and Proper Hiyori, would you like to escort me back to my apartment so we can do more couple-y things?" He took hold of her hands laying on the table.

She ripped her hands out of his grasp, causing him to look up at her in a mix of regret and concern. "Only if you never call me that ever again." She replied with a stern look.

The shock wearing off of his face, he nodded, "Alright. I'm sorry."

Hiyori stood up from the chair and pushed some of her hair back over her shoulder, "The day I'm actually prim and proper and meet my mother's standards is the day I've given up literally all of my personality."

"Aw, I wouldn't say that." He quickly followed after her, "You can be prim and proper in public and go home and go back to being a martial arts nerd. You just have to dress nicely and be polite, both things you already do. You don't have to go overboard and be… what's the word? Snotty?"

Hiyori gave a little bit of a snort at that, "I think you mean snobby, but snotty works for most of that crowd, honestly. And I guess you're right." As they started towards the direction of his apartment, she looked upward and commented, "I hope Yukine-kun isn't working too hard with Kofuku-san and Daikoku-san."

"He's been asking for it and they offered…" He answered with a shrug, admitting, "I'm hoping he'll realize trying to study, work, and do school work at the same time is too much. I really just want him to wait until the next school year, but then again he's got to worry about entrance exams not long after that…"

Hiyori giggled but waved her hand dismissively, "I'm sure Yukine-kun will make whatever decision is best. Even if he can be stubborn, he is a really responsible boy. And don't think too far ahead, he's still only a first year."

"But time goes by so fast! Especially with him, like, I really can't believe he's in high school already. And it's weird because sometimes it feels like he hasn't been in my life for that long and then other times it feels like we've been living together forever." He put a hand up to his forehead, "Jeez, if I'm like this now, imagine when I have a kid from when they're a baby; then I'll really be a mess."

She nodded in agreement with another giggle, "You really will. It's sweet, though… As long as you keep it in check and don't get too overbearing. I think Yukine-kun already believes you're pretty close already."

"That's just because he's so tsundere." Yato answered automatically, "He pretends like he doesn't want me to be affectionate in the slightest but I know deep down he likes it."

"I won't argue with you there." Hiyori nodded again.

His eyes flickered over to her, "Kind of like you."

"What?" She squinted her eyes in confusion.

"You're the exact same way sometimes! Like just now." He waved behind them, motioning back to the square that they had been sitting in.

"T-that's just because I don't want to make other people uncomfortable!" She shot back loudly, her face flushed yet again.

He gave a doubting look and tilted his head, "So if there was no one around, then you'd be fine?"

"Yes." Hiyori grumbled.

"Hmmm… I dunno if I believe you." He answered in sort of a sing song tone.

Giving an annoyed sigh, she glanced over into an alley before reaching up to pull him forward by the fabric of his hoodie.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing!?" He looked at her with wide eyes as she led them both a little ways into the alley.

"Proving you wrong." She answered in a determined tone, letting go of his hoodie and letting her hands return to her side.

"You don't have to do that." Yato took a step forward, his voice soft and unsure, "I was just joking, you don't—"

"I want to." Hiyori interrupted him and gently reached up to lower his head by lightly cupping his face, pressing her lips against his.

He made a noise of surprise before kissing her back gently, breaking away after only a few seconds. "Hiyori…" She opened her eyes to see him trying to search her expression.

She gave a small smile, "It's okay, really." She moved in closer to him again, "Just really quick."

He exhaled and nodded against her forehead, "Okay."

Hiyori led the kiss again but this time Yato followed suite instantly, gently running a hand through her hair as he returned her affection. She pulled away this time, giving him another peck before pulling away completely, "Let's keep going now."

He blinked as if he had been woken up from a daze, "Uh, yeah. Right." As they wandered back out onto the main road, he let out a breath, "You're just full of surprises, I swear."

"Is that a good or a bad thing?" She looked at him curiously.

"A good thing." Yato answered immediately, almost sounding just a little bit breathless, "Definitely a good thing."

She gave a small laugh, "Well that's a relief, I guess." She was sure he was being overdramatic, but it still made her heart flutter to know that she could have that sort of effect on him, at least in some way.

Though after they had gotten back to Yato's apartment, she started to think that maybe he hadn't been being over dramatic; his kiss was much less gentle and much more passionate and almost urgent. She squeaked in surprise as he practically crashed into her, but kissed him back to the best of her ability as she tried to finish shrugging off her coat. Eventually pulling away, she commented in a giggle, "Jeez, hold on a second."

He leaned back in to kiss her cheek impatiently, making a sort of annoyed groan to which Hiyori rolled her eyes.

"You're ridiculous." She exhaled as she reached up to hang her coat on the hook.

He crossed his arms, "Hey, you knew that from the start and still went after me anyway."

"I know." She nodded as she reached out for him.


	21. Familiar

**As always, I've had a ton going on so I've been working on this chapter on and off for quite a bit. I need to plan out some upcoming parts of this story more in detail soon but I've got a pretty good idea of where I'm going at least, so that's good haha. Anyway, enjoy~**

 _Good Enough_

"Hiyoriii, you end up helping out every time you're here; I feel bad." Yato pulled on the sleeve of her sweater, urging her to return to the living room.

"He's right, Hiyori-chan. Besides, this slacker owes some chores around this house anyway from the years he lived here." Daikoku looked over his shoulder as he continued to stir the stew that he was working on.

"I do _not_." Yato immediately snapped back as he looked over to Daikoku, "I did more than enough and you know it."

He rolled his eyes and corrected, "More like _Yukine_ did more than enough."

Hiyori started waving her hands to get their attention, gently removing Yato's hand from her arm, "I really don't mind, you guys. Yato, you've been working overtime a lot the past week, you should relax some."

"But—" He started to resist before a loud screech caused them to turn their heads to where smoke was now rising from Kofuku's side of the kitchen.

Yato stared with a deadpan expression while Daikoku sighed heavily, giving in, "Okay, Hiyori-chan. You win. We could definitely use your help."

With a victorious smile, she looked back to Yato and tilted her head towards the living room, "Go!"

"Okaaay." He answered in a bit of a groan, ducking into the refrigerator and grabbing a beer before moving out to the living room.

Not long after she had taken over Kofuku's role and started fresh, she barely heard the sound of footsteps coming towards the kitchen over Kofuku and Daikoku's conversation. Before she even had the chance to turn her head, she heard Kofuku gasp loudly and drop the plates into the sink.

"Bishaaaa!" Kofuku was already clinging to her by the time she turned around, Kazuma lingering awkwardly behind her.

"Bishamon-san, Kazuma-san, nice to see you again." Hiyori gave a sheepish smile and a small bow.

Daikoku also greeted them warmly, "Hey, make yourselves at home."

"Thank you, everyone." Kazuma answered politely.

"Hello," Bishamon answered simply before turning her attention back to Kofuku, "Kofuku, it's nice to see you too, but shouldn't you continue helping with dinner?"

Kofuku giggled and hugged her a little tighter, "I'm just so happy to see you! But yeah, I'm going." She took a step back and waved her hand towards the living room, "I'm sure you saw them already, but Yato-chan and Yukki are already in the living room!"

Bishamon looked off and grumbled, "Yeah, we saw them."

"Play nice until dinner is ready!" Kofuku gave her a playful slap on the shoulder before rushing back over next to Hiyori.

"Right…" She grumbled again and both Hiyori and Kazuma gave nervous laughs. Turning back out of the kitchen, she offered, "Just let me know if you need any help."

"Kay!" Kofuku chirped back eagerly before noticing the nervous expression on Hiyori's face, "What's wrong, Hiyorin?"

She shook her head, "Nothing, Bishamon-san is just… a little intimidating."

"You got that right." Daikoku echoed from the other side of the room and she gave a small smile.

"Aww, don't worry. She's a big softie underneath it all." Kofuku patted her back, "You've got nothing to worry about."

A few minutes later, Yato came storming into the kitchen with a growl, "I can't stand her!"

"What happened?" Hiyori asked worriedly as she whirled around.

"Nothing. I've barely said a word to her and she's just already being a complete bitch to me." He mumbled before his voice turned into a whine and he wiggled himself in the small space between her and the edge of the counter, "Hiyori, can I stay in here with you?"

Daikoku automatically answered for her, " _Only_ if you're helping, otherwise you're just taking up space in an already crowded kitchen."

" _Fiiine_." He sighed heavily, "What do you want me to do?"

"Get the table ready." Daikoku went back to his work and Yato gave a look of disbelief.

"What? But that means I have to go back in there! Multiple times!" He stepped out of the corner and towards Daikoku.

He shrugged and didn't even bother to look over at him, "It's not like you have to stay in there and make conversation."

As a last ditch effort, he looked over to Kofuku who gave him a sympathetic smile, "Sorry, Yato-chan. We do really need someone to set the table. Besides, the night is just starting! Save the arguments for later when we've all had something to drink and it's more tolerable to deal with."

"Gee, thanks, Kofuku." Yato gave an unamused smile before sighing and starting to gather things to take out to the living room.

Hiyori watched him as he left the room, thinking, ' _Poor Yato.'_ She returned to her cooking, ' _But I guess I definitely know there's really nothing he misses from his relationship with her.'_ She hadn't worried much about that sort of thing other than their initial meeting with Bishamon and Kazuma, especially since she and Yato had been growing even closer with every week. However, it was admittedly nice to still get reconfirmation here and there.

When she'd finished, she whirled around to tell Daikoku but instead found herself colliding with someone. Feeling arms catch her sides, she looked up to see Yato with a surprised expression. Suddenly smiling, he commented, "It's a good thing you're not Kofuku or else you probably would have bumped into me when my arms were full of dishes."

"Hey, get back to work, slacker." Daikoku gave a quick glare and Kofuku stuck her tongue out at Yato.

Rolling his eyes, Yato answered, "Right, right."

Hiyori flashed him a small smile as he detached himself from her before returning to what she was doing, "Daikoku-san, I think this is finished."

"Thank you, Hiyori-chan." He glanced around the kitchen before scratching the back of his head, "I guess we can go ahead and start serving everything, I'm almost done as well."

"Alright, will do." She nodded before getting to work again.

Everything was a bit chaotic as she worked to get everything set on the table but it only got more so as the group started to eat and drink. Daikoku at first was the one telling everyone to shut up and calm down, mostly to Yato and Bishamon who had tossed various insults at each other from across the table. However, as the night went on, Daikoku merely laughed along with Kofuku and it was up to Hiyori, Yukine, and Kazuma to quell any anger between the two. Eventually, Hiyori and Yukine had to take a break.

Even though the outside air was bitter and cold, it felt refreshing compared to the heat that had built up in the living room. Heaving a sigh of relief, Hiyori commented, "I guess Yato wasn't kidding."

"Yeah, but he's a drunken idiot, too, so he never helps the situation any." Yukine crossed his arms and looked off to the shop. Looking back to her, he commented with a small smile, "At least I'm not the only sober one this year. Kazuma-san usually helps, but… he's had his moments."

"Oh, jeez…" Hiyori put a hand up to her forehead and brushed through her bangs, "Well I'm definitely glad I can be here with you, then. I can't imagine having to deal with this level of insanity by myself."

Leaning against the edge of the doorway, he answered, "It's definitely too much to handle sometimes. But, I've also never had to endure the whole, uh, 'my boyfriend or girlfriend is better than yours' thing."

"Don't remind me." Hiyori's face soured and she hid her face in her hands, "I'm trying to forget." At one point, Yato and Bishamon's arguments between themselves had turned into comparisons between her and Kazuma. Kazuma, thankfully, was just as mortified and embarrassed as her and tried his best to get the two to change the subject. Kofuku, on the other hand, was all too eager to keep the conversation going as she held out her phone and started to record everything.

"Kofuku won't forget." He answered automatically, "I'll tell you that right now. Basically anything and everything you don't want to remember, she'll bring up."

She let out another small sigh, "Of course. But somehow that doesn't surprise me."

Letting a small moment of silence pass over them, he called out, "Hey, Hiyori."

"Hmm?" She lowered her hands and turned her head to look at him.

Yukine looked away sheepishly and spoke just above a mumble, "I'm glad things worked out, between you and Yato."

She smiled brightly, "Me too."

Their comfortable silence only lasted for a moment before Yato appeared in the doorway, a grumpy expression on his face, "Why'd you guys leave me alone in there?"

"Cuz you're obnoxious." Yukine answered without a beat and Yato let out a whine in response before turning to Hiyori.

Giving a nervous laugh, she answered, "It's just… a little much in there. I needed some fresh air, but I think I'll be okay to go back now."

"Good!" Hiyori saw a pink blur before she felt Kofuku wrap around her tightly, "We're about to bring out the sake!"

"O-oh." She gave another nervous laugh and Yukine sighed heavily before Yato wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"Hey, Yukine. I'll let you try it this time." He talked in what Hiyori suspected he thought was a whisper, but in reality it was quite loud.

Yukine blinked in surprise, "For real?"

"Yeah, you're sixteen now. You can have a sip." Yato ushered him forward and a smug smile took over the blonde's face.

Hiyori gave a knowing smile, sure that Yukine would probably find himself spitting it out much like she had when her parents let her try her first sip.

"C'mon, c'mon!" Kofuku let go only to latch onto her arm, pulling her back towards the living room. As they began to sit back down, she questioned, "Do you want some, Hiyorin?"

She shook her head, "No thank you. I'll be twenty in just a few months so I'll wait till then. To be honest, I'm not much of a fan of alcohol, anyway."

"When's your birthday, Hiyorin?" Kofuku lingered over her curiously.

"June twenty eighth." Yato answered before she even had the chance.

Pouting a bit, Kofuku commented, "That's far away if you ask me." Her bubbly expression quickly returning, she practically yelled, "We should have a birthday party for you here!"

"Great idea, Kofuku." Daikoku echoed from her side, pulling the girl away to give Hiyori a bit of breathing room, "I know you're probably going home, but definitely let us put something together for you, Hiyori-chan."

"T-thank you." She answered sheepishly, sinking further down into her seat.

Yato moved to the other side of her to pour Yukine a small amount of sake, all eyes on the younger boy. "Ready?" Yato asked with a bit of a smirk and Yukine nodded nervously.

"Uh, I guess…"

"Go for it." Yato set it down in front of him and Yukine picked it up curiously.

"It smells gross." He commented with furrowed brows.

Yato waved his hands, "You'll get past it."

Yukine finally took a sip before making a face and letting out a loud noise after he'd swallowed it, reaching up to wipe his mouth with his sleeve, "That's fucking disgusting! What the hell!?" The group all let out a loud laugh at his expense, causing his face to brighten quite a bit. "Seriously, I don't get it." He mumbled to himself.

"You'll get a more refined taste when you're older." Yato continued to laugh while Kazuma handed Yukine a napkin, an amused expression still on his face.

"It's okay, Yukine-kun. I had pretty much the same reaction." Hiyori said consolingly, "That's why I'm alright with not drinking any."

Yukine wiped his mouth again before reaching to gulp down a bit of water, making another disgusted face, "But you figure with how much they drink this shit that it'd have to at least taste somewhat decent."

Hiyori merely gave a shrug while the rest of the table let out another round of laughs.

"Well, anyway, I'm glad you have at least _some_ sensible role models." Bishamon added once the noise had died down, glancing between Hiyori and Kazuma.

Yato rolled his eyes. "Please. I'm a great parent."

" _Legal guardian._ " Yukine corrected harshly.

"Whatever, same thing." Yato shrugged, "Anyway, you heard him. He didn't disagree with me other than the name for it."

Yukine groaned and hid his face in his hands, "Yeah, sure. I guess."

Bishamon raised he eyebrows in doubt, "I don't know, he sounds pretty uncertain."

"That's just because he's embarrassed." Yato reached across the front of Hiyori to poke his cheek, "Isn't that right, Yukine?"

The younger boy immediately swatted his hand and moved just a bit closer to Kazuma, out of Yato's reach.

"Okay, okay. I think Yukine-kun has had enough for one night." Hiyori tried to gently shove Yato back towards his own seat.


	22. Plans

**Here it is, finally~~ enjoy.**

 _Good Enough_

"Make sure you behave for Kofuku and Daikoku." Yato reached down to ruffle Yukine's hair, grumbling as an afterthought, "But I'm sure you will since you always behave for them more than you do for me."

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah."

"Don't forget to study when you get the chance!" Hiyori piped in as she came up beside Yato, giving a teasing smile, "I may or may not quiz you the next time I'm over."

Yukine laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, "Alright…"

"See you in a few days, kiddo." Yato finally retracted his hand back to his side and the boy let out a small huff in response.

"I hope you have a good new year's, Yukine-kun!" She reached down to touch his shoulder, "I'll see you sometime soon."

"Same to you, Hiyori." He turned his head away sheepishly.

As Yato straightened out, he called over, "Hey, Kazuma. Make sure Yukine goes to bed at a decent time, I don't trust these two to be responsible when they're drunk." He nodded his head towards his other friends.

Over Daikoku and Kofuku's unintelligible protests, Kazuma gave a small laugh, "Right, I will."

"The hell, Yato." Yukine was blushing as he turned back around, "Just leave already."

"You're lucky I have to work tomorrow or else I'd stay another hour just for you." He reached out to rustle Yukine's hair again, but the blonde quickly ducked out of the way with a glare.

Bishamon sighed from the other side of the table, "Leave the poor boy alone, he obviously needs a break from you and I don't blame him."

Yato's mouth flew open but Hiyori immediately pulled on his arm, "A-anyway, we need to leave if we want to catch the train back. Thank you, everyone, for tonight." She gave a slight bow, smiling sweetly.

Among the chorus of responses, Kofuku's voice rang out above them, "Thank you for the help, Hiyorin! Make sure to come back soooon." She was practically dangling off of Daikoku as she called out to her, her balance almost completely lost.

"I will." She nodded eagerly before giving a quick wave.

"See you guys later." Yato waved nonchalantly before heading out of the room, Hiyori following after him.

After taking a few minutes to put on their coats, scarves, and shoes, Yato made a groan as they stepped out into the frigid air, "I really hate the cold."

Hiyori shrugged, "I don't mind it much. I do like warm weather a bit better, though."

"Summer can be a bit miserable too but I dunno, I'd still take that over the cold. Spring is probably the best, I guess."

"Spring is really pretty, too, with all the sakura trees in bloom." Hiyori nodded along.

Yato made a small noise before answering hesitantly, "Ah, yeah…"

Hiyori scrunched up her eyebrows as she looked up at him, "Did I say something?"

"I'll tell you later, it's late and I'm a bit drunk so that's a subject best for another day." He answered honestly before stretching out his arms and yawning.

"Ah, um. Speaking of it being late…" Hiyori started with a nervous laugh and Yato gave a raised eyebrow in response. Looking at her feet as they kept walking, she continued, "I, um. I kind of put in a form that I wouldn't be back at my dorm tonight, since I wasn't sure what time we'd get back and stuff, you know. But I—I want to stay with you, if that's okay." Taking a moment to inhale, she started to babble, "Your apartment is closer anyway, and you walking me all the way to my dorm and back in the cold isn't fair to you, and I don't have to be anywhere tomorrow and my things are already packed to go home so—"

"Hiyori." His voice finally cut off her rambling, a soft smile on his lips, "Yeah, of course." He moved closer to her to elbow her side, "And you don't have to make up excuses."

"I'm not making up excuses! I just, aghhh—" She groaned but let her arms fall in defeat, mumbling, "Thanks."

Perking up, he answered, "At least the cold won't be as miserable with you to keep me warm~"

"Y-yeah…" She gave a sheepish laugh, her own blush keeping her plenty warm.

"So was this really a backup plan or is this what you had planned from the start?" He gave her a mischievous smirk to which she tried to hide her face down into her scarf.

Hesitantly, she answered, "It was sort of the plan from the start."

"So why not ask me earlier?" He continued to tease her, lightly touching her shoulders.

"Because of Yukine-kun being so close to us and also from stories about you being drunk, I didn't want you to announce to everyone I was staying or something like that…" Her eyes flickered away from his.

Yato hummed thoughtfully in response, admitting with a small laugh, "Alright, I guess that's fair." Taking his hands off of her shoulders, he added, "Plus it's kind of a nice surprise."

"Mm." She nodded sheepishly, still staring down at her feet.

"Shit." Her head snapped up at Yato's curse, looking to see what was wrong. Tilting his head and ushering her forward, he commented, "The train's already here, c'mon."

He pulled on her arm and she slightly stumbled before they both starting rushing forward, just making it on to the train. Both slumped down onto seats, they both let out a sigh of relief. "At least we're out of the wind in here." Hiyori crossed her arms across herself and Yato leaned against her ever so slightly.

"Yep." He answered quietly.

"Are you getting sleepy now?" She looked over at him with an amused expression.

He straightened out his shoulders somewhat before slumping again, admitting, "Maaaybe."

She shook her head with a small smile, "You're lucky it's late and no one's paying attention."

"Oh, c'mon, I'm barely touching you." He rolled his eyes dramatically and pressed his shoulder into hers even more, "If anyone gets upset over this especially when it's so cold outside, they're just crazy." He closed his eyes and tilted his head against hers.

"You're really going to sleep?" She quirked an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Just a tiny cat nap." He peeked an eye open, teasing, "I'm not like you, I can wake up if I need to."

"Ha, ha." Hiyori answered sarcastically before reaching for her phone, "I guess since you're already making me stick out, I'll go ahead and ignore more of my mom's rules and watch a match on the way back."

"Go for it." He closed his eye again with a small smile, warning, "Just as long as you don't move around too much and keep me from falling asleep."

Plugging in her earphones and bringing them up to her ears, she commented back, "No promises."

Despite her words, she did try to stay as still as possible in order to avoid the attention of other passengers. However, as the matched intensified, that became a lot harder. Biting her lip and squirming a bit in her seat, she was only pulled back into reality after she had felt Yato tap her on the shoulder.

Once she'd paused the video, he commented in a yawn, "You woke me up." Wiping one of his eyes with one of his hands tiredly, he added, "We're almost to the stop, too."

"Ah, okay." Hiyori exited out of the app on her phone and stuffed it and her headphones back into the pocket of her jacket.

"You looked like you were having fun." He gave a smug grin to which her cheeks immediately darkened.

Glancing away, she replied in a huff, "So?"

"Nothing, it was just cute." She heard him answer, turning around as he finished, "You get kind of fired up when you're talking about it, but it's more fun to see you actually watching it; your reactions and stuff."

Her mouth dropped open, "So were you not sleeping and just watching me this whole time?"

"No," He immediately shook his head, "I slept a little bit. Not much, but eh, I'm awake now."

As she prepared to get up for their stop, she changed the subject, "What time do you have to go to work tomorrow?"

"Eleven, then I'm there forever; till the end of the night." He gave a sigh and ran a hand through his hair, "At least the next few paychecks should be nice. But classes are definitely going to kick my ass when we start back up again."

"You'll be okay. After all, you're finally picking up some of my study habits and not procrastinating as badly." She gave her own smug smile as they both stood up and waited for the doors to open.

Yato hummed in response before concluding, "So I guess I finally re-paid you for Yukine's tutoring by taking you out on a date, but I still owe you for technically tutoring me as well."

"I haven't tutored you." She corrected with a confused look as they stepped off of the train and on to the platform, "Not in the same way as Yukine-kun, anyway."

He shrugged, "Still, you've taught me a ton of stuff, Iki senpai."

"Ugh, don't call me that." She groaned, "It's weird. Especially since you're older than me."

"Maybe so, but you technically are my senpai; you're in your second year of college and I'm still in my first." He raised his eyebrows at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Does it even count if we're not even remotely in the same type of classes?" She countered before adding, "And just so you know, it seems like all the stories about how you are when you're drunk are true."

Yato pouted, "I'm not even that drunk anymore, I'm just happy to be with youuu."

She blushed again, "I'm pretty sure you're still a little drunk, but thank you." She bumped into his shoulder and added quietly, "I am too."

"What sort of stories about me being drunk have you heard, anyway?" He eyed her suspiciously, "Because if it's stuff from when I was underage, then that's not fair because I was an idiot back then."

"Don't worry about it." Hiyori let out a quiet sigh, keeping him from mistakenly leading them down the wrong street.

Realizing her correction, he commented smugly, "Getting pretty familiar with this area, huh?"

"I guess so." She nodded, "I mean, I am here probably as much as I am in my own dorm room. Maybe a little bit more, sometimes."

"I dunno, it's been a lot less lately since I've had to pull off all these hours at work." He said in a pout, stretching out his arms and cracking his back with a soft pop, "Ah, there we go. Much better."

She made a face at the sound for a brief moment before agreeing, "That's true. Maybe that's why I came up with the idea to do this."

"It'd be nice if you just said that you missed me _that_ much, but I guess I'll take a subconscious admission." He softly grabbed her hand and started leading them up the stairwell.

Her hand twitched automatically, ready to pull herself out of his grasp, but she relaxed and gave in since they were already so close to his apartment door. "Yes, I missed spending time with you." She admitted, though it was in a grumble.

"Not sure that I heard that." He teased as he pulled his keys out of his pocket and held the door open for her.

As he closed the door and started working on his own shoes, she had already slipped hers off and stepped up onto the raised floor, repeating in her best imitation of his voice, "I did miss you _that_ much."

"There we go." He grinned widely, beginning to step up on to the raised floor before his left foot caught the edge and he stumbled forward.

"Yato!" Hiyori rushed forward but he caught himself and held out his hands to signal that he was alright.

Heaving a sigh, he smiled again and laughed as he defended, "I swear I'm not even tipsy anymore, I'm just being stupid and not paying attention."

Though she let out a small laugh at his expense as well, she asked quietly, "Was that my fault?"

"A little bit." He leaned into her and wrapped his arms around her middle, "But don't worry about it."

She pressed a kiss against his lips, which he eagerly tried to return, but she pulled back in a muffle as she tugged on the zipper of her coat in the small space between them, "Give me a minute, I still have to get this off."

"And this." Yato raised his hands to wind her bright pink scarf away from her, leaving her hands free to finish unzipping her coat.

After he had hung her scarf up, he pulled on the back of her coat to help her shrug it off of her arms. Just as he turned to hang that up as well, she reached out and pulled on the zipper of his coat, "Yours too."

He raised an eyebrow and smirked as he untied his scarf and started working on the rest of the zipper, "So eager to undress me, Hiyori."

"Shut up." She flushed and stepped farther into the apartment, lingering in the hallway just beyond his line of sight.

"Honestly though," Yato peeked around the corner, "Did you have something in mind for tonight since you kinda planned this whole thing?" As he followed her into the hallway, he added, "Even though you didn't _tell_ me."

"I told you why." She automatically answered in a huff, her arms crossed, but she relaxed some as she let out a small breath of air, "And I don't know, I just… figured we can just see where it goes." She looked down at her feet, the blush in her cheeks only growing.

She heard Yato hum thoughtfully before reaching out to gather her into his arms and pressing his lips against hers, "Okay." Though they shared a few passionate kisses, he broke away again with a small laugh, "I guess it's good you didn't tell me. Because I just remembered I totally left my futon out expecting to just come home and pass out, so at least you know that I know I wasn't expecting anything." Lingering close to his room's doorway, he asked nervously, "Er… light on, light off? Don't care?"

"Off, I… guess?" She answered just as nervously, squeezing past him and laying her cell phone on his dresser before crawling down into the bed and hiding her face. She'd been eagerly anticipating this opportunity to have alone time together for the past few days and now that it was actually happening, she was feeling more shy than ever; even the warm familiar scent of his sheets couldn't calm her down this time.

She felt him slip under the covers with her, but his knees barely touched her, "You okay?"

"Mm." She nodded truthfully, "I think I just feel weird because most of the time we just let things happen while tonight is sort of planned."

Yato sank his head down into the pillow as her eyes finally caught his, reminding her, "We don't have to do anything, you know."

"I want to, I'm just, like," Hiyori tried to think of the words, "Having a mental block or something."

He gathered her into his arms and cradled her against his chest, mumbling against her forehead, "Can just do something like this for a little while."

"That works." She nuzzled into the crook of his neck and let herself sink into his comfortable warmth. Without even thinking much about it, she pressed a kiss against his skin before deciding to slowly move up towards his jawline.

She felt him shiver before he pulled back, gently reaching out to cup her cheek while leaning down again to kiss her lips.

He kept the kisses fairly soft and tender until she started to play with the neckline of his shirt, teasing the sensitive skin underneath. After a few nips of her lips, he commented in a low voice, "Found your confidence now?"

Hiyori made a noise of annoyance before reaching down to the hem of his shirt and pulling it upward forcefully, muttering back, "Shut up."

"Yes ma'am." He snickered while he pulled his shirt over his head, only to find her giving him a slight glare. Though once he moved in towards her again, her expression softened. When his tongue ran over a sensitive spot in her mouth and she made a small noise, he tugged the bottom of her shirt and asked breathlessly, "What about you?"

"It can go." She started to sit up to pull her arm through the sleeve before she realized Yato was going to do it, small shivers running through her as his hands grazed her skin as they worked their way upward.

Lowering herself back down to the futon, he kissed her even more eagerly with his bare hands traveling her sides. She moved her hands behind his neck, pulling herself closer to him while also playfully running a hand through his violet tresses.

His hands still massaging her sides, his lips strayed till they reached her chin, continuing a burning path down her neck and eventually her chest. Her breath and heartbeat both increased rapidly as his lips lingered right above her bra. As she felt him reach behind her, she angled herself in a way she thought would help him. However, after what felt like a few minutes, she figured the bra had gotten the best of him.

"Need help?" She tried not to be smug, but it was somewhat of a relief that he didn't seem as experienced as he had made it sound.

She felt his fingers fiddling with it for one last try before he groaned, "Yeah…"

Effortlessly, Hiyori reached behind her and separated the two clips from each other and felt her bra begin to slide forward.

"Seriously?" He muttered to himself in disbelief before she timidly slid her bra the rest of the way off and gently tossed it to the side, leaving him breathless.

Feeling the intensity of his stare on her, she slightly turned her head and closed her eyes before she felt him on her lips. "You're beautiful, Hiyori." He spoke against her lips, "You don't have to be embarrassed."

"Easy for you to say." She peeked an eye open before she gasped and closed it again, his thumbs making trails across her breasts.

"Because it's true." He answered without hesitation, lifting his head and confusing her for a moment until she felt the heat and moisture of his lips and tongue on her breasts and every thought immediately dropped from her mind.

She squirmed in pleasure, a few noises passing her lips that she really wished hadn't, but was beginning to care less and less as the sensation continued. When Yato's efforts had slowed in the slightest, she reached down blindly until she could find the bulge in his pants. When she rubbed against it, he immediately froze and attempted to swallow his groan.

Just as she went to try it again, his hand followed after hers and held it in place between them, "Did you—did you decide how far you wanna let this go?" He was panting and his eyes serious as they searched hers.

Hiyori gave a small smile before leaning in to kiss him gently, though his expression was still just as serious when she pulled away. "I want you—if you're ready, too." She answered quietly, her nose just brushing against his.

His eyes seemed to shine in what almost looked like a mix of disbelief and awe, and she almost asked if something was wrong until he finally answered, "I—yes." He kissed her and crushed her desperately tight against him. "I love you." He whispered between kisses, slowly but surely becoming much fierier again.

"I love you too." She smiled brightly, or at least as much as she could given the circumstances.


	23. Discovery

**Merry Christmas! I have a bit of a family emergency going on, but I really wanted to try and get this posted by this weekend so I've done quite a bit of work on it tonight since I've had kind of a calm spot. I hope you enjoy it!**

 _Good Enough_

"I don't wanna go to wooork." Yato whined as he shut off the alarm on his phone and immediately buried his face into the crook of her neck.

She gave a small huff, cradling his head with her arm, "You have to. And I have to go back to my dorm and pack the last of my things so I can go home tomorrow…" She closed her eyes and grimaced at the thought of the endless list of questions and lectures that her mom had waiting for her.

"Not looking forward to that at all, huh?" His eyes flickered up to hers.

"I mean, I'm looking forward to it a _little_. It is home, you know?" She gave a small shrug of her shoulders, "I'm just not looking forward to all of the stress I know is coming."

Pressing a gentle kiss against her jaw, he commented in a low voice, "If she's already going to give you a ton of shit, you don't have to say anything…"

"But it's already been three months without saying anything and I told my big brother that I would." Hiyori immediately contested, tilting her head towards him, "And it'll just make it worse the longer I wait."

She felt him let out a breath of air against her skin, "Yeah, I guess."

"Besides, I don't _want_ to keep it a secret." She continued, making a sour face, "It's just her initial reaction I don't want to deal with."

"Won't it be an ongoing thing, though?" He questioned seriously with a small frown appearing on his lips, "Since I don't exactly live up to her standards and all that."

Hiyori reached her hand up to her face and ran her fingers through her bangs, "Probably. But like Ami-chan said to me a while ago, it's my life so… ultimately it's my decision and hopefully if I can just ignore her long enough, she'll just get over it…eventually." Her voice lowered, full of uncertainty as she finished.

"Well, you're right about it being your own life." He pressed another kiss against her cheek before starting to untangle himself from her, somewhat sitting up, "I'm not so sure about the other part." As the air started to flow into the pocket he created, he shivered dramatically, "Fuck, it's cold."

"Yeah, but we've gotta get up." She pushed her knee into his thigh, nodding upward.

"Fine, but let's go somewhere for breakfast where it's already warm." He kept his arms wrapped around himself as he got out from the futon and stood up, shivering dramatically.

Letting out a small yawn first, Hiyori moved to get out of bed as well, "I definitely won't say no to that." Before she even realized he had moved, she felt Yato wrap his arms around her and squished her against his chest, "Are you really that cold?"

She felt him shake his head, "No, this is just because I won't see you till after the new year."

"Oh," She parted her lips in surprise before returning the hug and resting her head on against the side of his face, "Guess you're right."

"And I know you hate PDA." He added, speaking into her ear.

Hiyori rolled her eyes, "It's rude!"

"I think people can get past just a short kiss." He countered back and she pulled away from him just enough to look at him.

"As if you would ever keep it at just that." She gave him a doubtful look.

Yato looked back at her, taking a moment to form a response. Giving a smug grin, he leaned in towards her until their noses touched, "You're just that addicting, Hiyori. But also," He moved towards her neck and kissed her there, a tingling feeling quickly taking over her body, "I seem to remember you being the one to initiate things quite a few times, including last night. So I'm not the only guilty one here."

Words disappeared for a short time, her breath caught in her throat and her lips parted. Finally, she answered breathlessly with a small laugh, "Y-you're right."

He continued kissing a path down to the neckline of her borrowed shirt, suckling at her skin briefly before mumbling, "Now I really wish I didn't have to go to work."

"We don't have time, so yeah, don't tease me." She gently pushed his face away with her hand, "And also, if you leave a mark on me, I might have to kill you because my mom will definitely kill _me_. Or pass out. Maybe both."

"Alright, alright." He lifted his head to press a kiss against her lips which she returned, "Let's start getting ready, then."

"Mmm." She nodded as he let go, turning to his dresser to start digging out his clothes while she wandered out into the hall to get her bag. After she had grabbed her sweater, skirt, and leggings from the bag, she walked back in to see Yato waiting on her.

He nodded her back towards the door, "You can use the bathroom first, I'll change in here."

"Thanks." Her eyes skimmed the room before she caught sight of what she was looking for, "Oh. Um, could…could you move your foot?"

He blinked, "Huh?" Looking down, he realized he had stepped on top of part of her bra without noticing, "Oh." Picking it up and holding it out gingerly, he flushed, "Uh, here."

Hiyori snatched it out of his grasp a little quicker than she would have liked, sheepishly giving him a thanks before she escaped to the bathroom. Clutching her clothes close to her chest, she let out a small breath as well as a laugh at herself. ' _I don't know why I'm embarrassed, especially considering he's pretty much seen… everything now.'_ Still, her heart was racing.

She took her time getting dressed and fixing her hair, but Yato was still finishing up putting on a belt when she entered the room. He looked up with a small smile, commenting, "I'm glad I can wear my winter jacket on top of this terrible shirt so you don't have to be seen in public with me like this."

Hiyori rolled her eyes, "I've already walked with you in public while you've been wearing that."

"Yeah, for like, a minute. This time we'll actually be going into a place and sitting and spending time there." He waved his arms for emphasis.

"You worry over such silly things sometimes." She took a small breath and shook her head.

"Well it doesn't help that you always look cute and well dressed, so especially with this ugly thing, I look way worse than usual." He gave a slight pout as he stepped closer to her.

She crossed her arms though a smile twitched at her lips, "So what, you want me to dress more sloppily when I know you're going to be working?"

"No! I just—aghhh." He hid his face in his hands before running them through his hair and Hiyori laughed.

"See, you're being ridiculous, just like I said." She put her hand on his shoulder and also tilted her head to press a gentle kiss to his cheek, "Besides, they're your _work_ clothes. You have to wear them. If I had an issue with that then I mean, honestly, I wouldn't be worth dating. I certainly wouldn't date me if that were the case and I was you."

"Okay, okay. I am being a little dramatic, but I always have been about these; even before dating you. I just hate it. You can ask Yukine." He pinched the shirt and pulled on it as he spoke. Ducking away from her, he waved, "I'll be done in just a minute, okay?"

"Okay." She repeated loudly so that he could hear her out in the hallway. Getting the last of her things together into her bag, she moved out towards the front hallway before leaning against the wall for support as she scrolled through her phone. When she heard him start to exit the bathroom, she slipped her phone into her pocket and reached up for her coat off the rack.

Yato moved towards the rack too as he reappeared, "Anything interesting on Twitter?"

"Not really considering you're the most active person I have added on there." She shook her head, "Though I did catch Yukine-kun saying he didn't get much sleep. I guess Kofuku-san and Daikoku-san the party going for a while after we left."

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me." He shrugged his coat on over his shoulders, "I'm just glad I'm not the one he's blaming for once. He always complained that I kept him up at night when we had to share a room at their house."

Hiyori hummed and commented, "You do kind of move around a lot. And I think I heard you talking a little bit last night but I only woke up for a minute so I didn't really listen to what you were saying."

He frowned and grumbled, "Sounds about the same as the stuff Yukine complained about."

"It doesn't really bother me, just as long as you don't elbow me in the face or anything like you told me before." She finished buttoning up her coat.

"I did warn you, though." He pointed out, finishing up with his coat as well, "And I guess Yukine is just a much lighter sleeper than you are."

Giving a small sigh, she admitted, "I think most people are."

"Hey, it works out for me if you won't get annoyed with me about my sleeping habits." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed briefly before he stepped forward to start putting his shoes on, "At least most of the time."

"I think most of the time is doable. Maybe." She answered jokingly as she followed suite, "When in doubt, just give me coffee."

Yato swung the door open gently, nodding, "Ah, so that's the secret."

"Yep."

"Guess I should start keeping some around, then." He stretched out his arms and yawned, joking, "Maybe Yukine will be nicer to me too if I let him have some here and there."

Hiyori gave a small laugh, "I can't make any promises there, either."

"I can hope." He answered automatically, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his coat and holding his arms as close to his body as possible, "Ugh, this is so miserable."

"At least it's not that far of a walk." She gave him a small nudge forward, "You'll be okay."

"But then I have to make the long tortuous walk to work alone." He hung his arm woefully over his face.

She sighed equally as dramatically, "A whole five minutes. Meanwhile, I have to walk for fifteen minutes or so in the cold back to my dorm."

Yato winced, "Okay, okay. You win." Though she had picked on him, she was truthfully shivering just as badly as him when they finally entered the café. After they'd been seated, he rubbed his hands together eagerly, "It's been forever since I've gone out to eat for breakfast."

"Same here, actually." She nodded in agreement, "Aside from getting coffee, of course."

He looked over to her in surprise, "Huh, I figured that's something you and your friends would do somewhat often."

"Considering both Yama-chan and I both aren't much of morning people, Ami-chan just gets things on her own. And for the times we do actually all meet up, it usually becomes more of a lunch." Hiyori gave a small and sheepish laugh, running a hand through her hair.

He gave a knowing grin, nodding, "Ah, I see."

"Plus I never really had to worry about breakfast growing up because Sasaki-san always already had it ready." She admitted, her eyes widening in excitement as the waitress slid their plates of waffles towards them.

After they had thanked her, Yato looked at Hiyori in confusion, "Sasaki-san…?"

She had already picked up her fork, eager to dive in, but froze in place as Yato's repetition reached her ears. "I, um…" She lowered her voice a bit, "She's our housekeeper."

"O-oh…" Yato blinked and swallowed, reaching for his fork.

"She's not like, full time or anything. She just comes over to help a few days a week since my dad and mom are so busy." Hiyori quickly added, her tone both nervous and embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it." He waved his hand and tried to dismiss her worries, "It's just a shock sometimes. But you shouldn't feel bad about it."

She fiddled with her fork and stared down at the table, "I know, but…"

"I'd rather feel awkward for a minute or two instead of making you feel like you have to lie around me, you know." He took a small bite of his waffle and stared at her intently, a smile finally crossing his lips when her eyes met his.

"Y-yeah." She nodded again, "But still… sorry."

He let out a sigh, "Remember what I said before about making you pay five hundred yen if you apologized for no reason? I'm gonna have to start enacting that soon."

"Alright, alright." She waved her hands in defeat, moving to cut a piece off of her waffle, "I'm so—I mean, that's fine. I'll remember that." She took a sip of her coffee.

"Good." He hummed as he took another bite of his waffle.


	24. Anticipation

**I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK FOREVER AND ONCE AGAIN IT'S SHORT. I was chosen to do an interview for the JET program to teach English in Japan so I was very, very focused on preparing myself for that. I finally got that over with last weekend, so I've been trying my best to wrap up this chapter ever since then. My apologies once again! Thank you to all of you who have been reading since the beginning as well as the new readers who have left kudos/comments recently!**

"Phew," Yama collapsed into her seat and threw her hands up, "I'm looking forward to this break so much! No work for a whole week!"

Hiyori flashed a smile as she took the seat next to her, getting as comfortable as she could for the long ride home. With a bit of a sigh, she answered, "But you know it'll be time for finals shortly after we get back."

"Shh. Don't ruin the mood, Hiyori." Yama leaned over into her face, huffing. Collapsing back into her seat, she continued, "It's the holidays! It's time to relax and have fun. There's still time to study once school kicks back in."

She gave a small laugh and looked out the window as the train jerked forward, "You know me, always overly prepared."

"Speaking of being prepared…" Yama's voice dipped into a low and teasing tone, "We haven't gotten the chance to talk about Christmas."

Her heart quickened and her cheeks lit up instantly, her eyes flickering to her friend, "Oh."

Yama smirked knowingly, "That interesting, huh?"

"Y-yeah." She admitted, swallowing and clearing her throat before continuing in a calmer voice, "Early on in the night was sort of awkward because Bishamon-san and Yato kept wanting to argue about everything, including who had the better girlfriend or boyfriend."

"That's Yato's ex, right?" Yama tilted her head and Hiyori nodded.

"Mhm." She nodded, "I'm glad they definitely don't have any leftover feelings for each other, but it was… overwhelming, to say the least. Even Yukine felt bad, so we both went and took a break outside away from everyone else who was drinking and just sort of talked a bit." She exhaled and gave a fond smile, "He told me that he was glad things worked out between me and Yato, it was really sweet."

Yama cooed adoringly, "Awww, how cute. Is he starting to see you as like a sort of mom figure?"

Hiyori instantly turned two shades darker, "Wha-what? No! I would say like an older sister, if anything. Anyway, we're friends at the very least."

"Alright, alright." She leaned back into her seat again and hummed, "Keep going."

"Well, the rest of the night was still pretty chaotic. Yato and Bishamon-san were kind of snappy with each other still the rest of the night but Kofuku-san and Kazuma-san managed to district them or change the subject to something else. Anyway, around ten or so, Yato and I left for the train back and went back to his apartment. And…" Her heart pounded and she squirmed in her seat, "And, yeah… You can use your imagination..."

Her eyebrows were raised high in interest but her mouth fell open as Hiyori finished. Blinking in surprise, she asked urgently, "All the way?"

Wordlessly, Hiyori nodded and Yama let out a small laugh before reaching over to shake her shoulders, "Hiyoooriiiii! Congrats!"

"Uh, thank you?" She answered in a confused tone but looked out the window nonetheless to not look into her friend's eyes.

Yama reached up to pinch her cheek teasingly, "It's cute how sheepish you get about this kind of stuff." After Hiyori had swatted her away, she relented with a smile, "I'll leave you alone about it, I guess. But it is a big step, you know!"

"Yeah, I know." She mumbled in response, her face still feeling as if it had caught fire. She was _extremely_ aware; every moment with Yato the day before had been a bit odd. She felt more comfortable with him, but she felt more self-conscious than ever and hyperaware of everything.

When they had finished breakfast and he had to leave for work, he briefly grazed the side of her face and her shoulder with his fingers as they said their goodbyes. It was something she wouldn't have thought much of before, but now, it was like every single one of her nerves lit up at even the slightest touch and she was practically on edge as she walked home. She even had to take a while to decompress before attempting to finish packing up her belongings to go home because she couldn't focus.

It didn't help that she had gotten a text from him only just a few hours into his shift.

 _work sucks today everyone is bitching about every little thing. Are you sure you cant come home any earlier? I miss you already :[_

Out loud, she had replied with a laugh and a bit of a scoff, "Jeez." But a smile spread across her face as she responded.

 **Nope, I haven't seen my parents in several months so there's no way they're letting me go home early. But I miss you too & it's just a week it won't be too long. Also sorry to hear people at your work are being a pain. I hope your day gets better.**

"Hiyoooooriii~" Yama's voice and hand waving in her fact snapped her out of her thoughts, her friend grinning after she knew she had gotten her attention and lowering her voice, "It must have been good if you're dazing out like that at just the mention of it."

"I wasn't—" Her voice was practically a yell before she exhaled and lowered her voice, "I wasn't thinking about _that_." She huffed and sunk down into her seat.

Giving one last laugh, Yama put on a more sympathetic face, "But seriously, how are you going to go about telling your mom you've been dating someone for the past few months?"

"I still don't know yet." Hiyori frowned and looked down into her lap, "I've thought about a couple of different things. I don't think telling her immediately or right before I'm leaving is the way to go…. I feel like I'll have to catch her in a good mood or something. Maybe New Year's Eve would work? Definitely sometime after that party they throw the day or so before for the hospital because she gets so worked up about it." Yama suddenly tensed and her face got very serious at the mention of the business party, leaving Hiyori confused, "What is it?"

"Isn't…" She paused, as if unsure of how to phrase her question, "You know, isn't Fujisaki-san going to be there?"

Her jaw dropped open, "…I… honestly was so worried about telling my parents about Yato that I didn't even think about it." She brought a hand up to cover her face and bit her lip, "And he has... been really quiet since he showed up at school…"

"I didn't mean to scare you or anything," She reached out consolingly, "I just thought you had considered it already."

Hiyori shook her head, "I manage to avoid him for the most part during those parties, but, I usually do run into him at least once."

"I would say pretend like you're sick and leave early, but I guess in a house full of doctors and nurses that won't work very well, huh?" Yama gave a sympathetic smile.

"Unfortunately not." She shook her head again before resting her chin on top of her hands in thought, "I don't know what I'm going to do, but at least I've got a few days to figure it out."

"That's true." Yama retreated her hand from Hiyori's shoulder and placed it back into her lap, "And you've got your big brother there, right?"

Her lips parted in realization before smiling and nodding, "Yeah. Maybe I'll just make a point to spend extra time with him that night." Relaxing a bit with that thought, she perked back up again, "Do you have any special plans while we're at home?"

"Nah. Just sleeping in and enjoying my free time." Sitting up in her seat and pouting, she added, "I'm a little jealous of Ami, though. Going to Okinawa for new year's sounds like it'd be pretty fun."

"I'm jealous too. It'd be nice to do something new for once, we've done pretty much the same thing for years now." Hiyori gave a small sigh and stared longingly out the window.

"Well, you're probably going to be spending some holidays with Yato-kun and his friends now, right? So there's that." When she looked back up, Yama looked up at her with a smirk.

Her lips parted in surprise before she smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Kofuku-san and Daikoku-san were already talking about doing something for my birthday all the way in June when I was there on Christmas. If you and Ami-chan are free, you two should come with me."

"Definitely! They sound really sweet." Yama nodded enthusiastically, "Plus, I have to formally thank Kofuku-san for pushing you two together since I didn't really have the chance to do it myself."

Hiyori flushed again, "What are you talking about? I pretty much confessed to Yato _twice_ on my own!" She covered her mouth as her voice rose a bit beyond the level that she would have liked, mumbling through her hands, "It's not like a TV show where she forced us together into a room until we said something—wait." She froze up in realization before dropping her hands and blushing even darker, "You told Yato to let me stay at his apartment that night on purpose, didn't you?"

Yama shrugged nonchalantly, "I mean, I figured you wouldn't say no. Even if you did, I knew he gladly would have taken you home, so…" She trailed off, "But anyway, you definitely are a heavy sleeper, so it's not like I was really exaggerating."

" _Yama_ - _chan._ " She answered in practically a whine and started to bury her face in her hands.

"Whaaat? It worked out, right?"

"That's not the point." Hiyori let out a tiny sigh, exasperated.

Yama raised her hands, "I mean, you're doing fine on your own now, so I'll back off. _But_ , y'know, I might have to interfere if you guys have been dating forever and he doesn't propose to you." She put her hands together and cracked her fingers, "But that's a while from now, so don't worry about that too much yet."

"Yeah, that's a _long_ way off." She immediately huffed in response, "Let me just try to survive this winter vacation first. That's going to be hard enough as it is." She sunk down into her seat, "Mom's going to be waiting at the train station when we get there, so it's going to be awkward right off the bat. She basically knows something's different because she keeps mentioning that I sound distracted and not myself. She also keeps saying that I should maybe quit my tutoring job for Yukine-kun, but she can't argue too much because my grades are still high."

"Not that it will help much, but do you think that there's any chance she'll remember who Yato is?" Yama questioned curiously.

Hiyori shook her head, "No, I really doubt it. He was far from the only one I was told I shouldn't play with when I was a kid."

She sighed in response, "Well, as much as this is going to suck, introducing him in person will probably be even more awkward. So I guess you can at least look at it that way."

"Yeah, I don't know." Hiyori reached up to push her hair back, "Either way, it's all going to be terrible."

"Wish I could help you out, but you know your mom won't really be swayed by anything I say." She crossed her arms with a small huff.

"It's okay, it's the thought that counts." She flashed a quick smile, "Something will work out; somehow. It may take a while, but it will."

Yama smiled as well, nodding, "Right."

Giving a sympathetic smile and looking down at her lap, Hiyori continued, "Besides, it'll honestly be way worse for Yato than it will for me… She may not remember him, but he definitely remembers her and everything she said. I imagine he'll probably freeze up, at least a little bit."

"Poor thing." Yama gave a frown, "She is intimidating as hell, though. She even gets to me sometimes, which you know isn't easy to do."

"You know, I always thought for some reason that she'd get a little better with everything when I got older." She admitted, looking back out the window to watch the scenery passing by, "But that wasn't really the case at all. If anything, she's gotten a bit worse. I know my future's important, but it is _my_ future. Not to mention the fact I'll be a legal adult soon."

"You just gotta keep rebelling bit by bit, you'll get there." Yama answered with a wide smile and a laugh.

Hiyori nodded and smiled back, repeating, "Rebelling, got it. I'll try my best."


	25. Homecoming

**So I didn't get into the JET Program/I'm not going to Japan, but being kinda bummed out helped push me to write this chapter. I took a break from writing this story for a few weeks so I could get started on my project for the Noragami Big Bang but now that I have, I was free to return lol. It's a little bit short (as has been the case for the past few chapters, I believe) so I apologize for that but being in the right mood to write and having the energy to do it is a rare occasion indeed, so I make the most of what I can. Thank you for your continued support!**

"So how did you meet this boy you're tutoring, Hiyori?" Her dad asked from the living room as she and her mom continued to wash the dishes.

Hiyori swallowed and continued to look down, answering, "My friend told me that they knew someone who needed tutoring in English and Japanese and I told them that I had done tutoring in high school, so it just worked out from there." She avoided using male pronouns, knowing this would immediately spark a conversation regarding her 'friend', a conversation she wasn't ready to have quite yet.

"Do you think you'll continue your tutoring after this semester?" Her mother looked up at her from her side.

Nervously tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, she nodded, "I think I'll definitely continue for the rest of the school semester, after that it depends on how he's doing, I suppose."

Her mom frowned at that answer, "I just really don't want to you to get distracted from your studies. Isn't there someone closer to his grade level that could tutor him?"

"Not at the moment, he just moved to the area and doesn't have many friends his age." Hiyori shook her head, "And if he decides to go that route later, that's okay and I'll step back. But I'm doing fine, Mom, you don't have to worry." Clearing her throat and changing the subject, she questioned, "So when is Oniichan supposed to be getting here?"

Hearing the crinkle of newspaper first, she heard her dad answer, "I believe he said tomorrow afternoon."

Nodding cheerfully as she looked up, she replied, "It'll be great to see him, I feel like it's been forever."

"I can say the same." Her dad smiled back before the phone ringing caused both of them to turn their heads.

Hiyori nodded towards her mom, suggesting, "I can finish up the dishes if you want to answer that." Her mother was the one who used the house phone the most after all, so the call was more than likely directed towards her.

"Thank you." She flashed a quick smile before sneaking out of the kitchen.

After she had put the last dish onto the drying rack, Hiyori moved into the living room and sat down on the couch to the side of the armchair that her dad was resting in. "So how are you liking school this semester?"

"It's a bit difficult sometimes, but there's a lot of interesting things that I'm learning. My professors are all pretty great and I do really like the city I'm living in. It's not too often I go out, but it's nice to do something different with Yama-chan and Ami-chan when we do manage to go somewhere."

"Good, I'm glad." He smiled widely before admitting, "I do wish you were a little closer, but I understand wanting to get away to be able to spread your own wings."

"Y-yeah." She smiled back sheepishly, thinking to herself that was putting it a bit lightly.

"Would it be alright if I used the bath first, dear? I'm feeling really tired so I'm going to sleep early." Her mom popped her head into the living room area from the hallway.

"Of course!" He answered automatically.

Hiyori looked up to watch her and noticed that for some reason she seemed to be avoiding eye contact, feigning a light hearted voice as she headed towards the stairs, "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!" They both answered, though she kept staring after her and wondered what sort of phone conversation she had possibly had that had drained her that much.

Truthfully, Hiyori was still pretty exhausted after the long train ride the day before as well so it wasn't that long before she decided to head upstairs as well, her father joking, "It's a pretty rare occasion when _I'm_ the last person awake."

"I should hopefully be back to normal by tomorrow." She smiled back before turning around, slipping upstairs. As she made her way to her bedroom, she noticed her parents' bedroom door was closed. ' _I guess she's already asleep.'_ She mused to herself before returning her focus to grabbing towels.

By the time she was in the tub, she was _really_ exhausted; the warmth and comfort of the water practically lulling her to sleep. She hardly even bothered to dry her hair, changing into pajamas and slipping into bed as quickly as possible. Before shutting her eyes, she sent a quick text message to Yato.

 **I hope work is going okay. I'm really tired again so I'm going to go to bed early. Goodnight!**

She wasn't exactly sure when she fell asleep, but she noticed it was a few hours later on the clock when her phone woke her up.

 _It was alright I guess. Not terrible not amazing either. Goodnight hiyori talk to you tomorrow._

She smiled and flipped her phone over onto its front, letting herself drift back to sleep.

"Hiyori. …HIYORI!" She felt her shoulders being shaken and peeked her eyes open to find that sunlight was beaming into her room and her mom was staring at her intently from her bedside.

"What?" She reached up to rub her eyes but her mom wouldn't release her arm from her grasp.

Her mom seemed to trip over her words a few times before Hiyori finally made out the question, "Is it true?"

Blinking in confusion and her eyes still heavy with sleep, she repeated again, "What are you talking about?"

"That," She swallowed, a bit over dramatically, "That you went home with some strange man." Hiyori continued to stare at her as if she were losing her mind until she added, "Kouto-san was going to accompany you home but he couldn't find you. He was ready to get on the train before he saw you getting off late at night. And he was worried, so he followed you and saw—and saw you go into an apartment building with someone. Hiyori, what were you _thinking_?" Her voice sounded as if she were close to crying, "And imagine how Kouto-san felt seeing you in that situation as well."

Anger swept through Hiyori's body in a way she had never felt before and she ripped her arm backwards out of her mom's grasp, "Truthfully, I don't care; not in the slightest." Her mom's eyes widened and the tears started to flow, but she was far beyond feeling guilty. "It's none of his business, and the fact that he keeps showing up out of nowhere is so immensely disrespectful, as well as possessive and creepy from the way that he follows me around, but you don't seem to care. Not to mention that you didn't even ask or even give me the chance to explain the situation. You just automatically agreed with what he said, like you always do. You never listen to my side of things!"

"What could you possibly explain that would make this situation better?" She fired back just as angrily, getting close enough to make Hiyori feel like she was being cornered, "I raised you better than this!"

"It doesn't matter because you're not going to listen." She muttered before grabbing her phone and pushing past her mom, turning around once she had reached the doorway, "But for your information, Fujisaki-san made me miserable in high school and that's why I don't talk or associate with him. He pushed me away from my friends, he belittled me, and he sexually assaulted me. He's mostly the reason why I moved so far away from home, but you continue to allow him back into my life without my permission." She was seething, her grip tight on the door as she spoke. "I'll be back later." She muttered before she released the doorframe from her grasp and stomped down the stairs.

She hastily looked behind her back to make sure she wasn't being followed and let out a small breath of relief when she realized she wasn't. Snatching her coat and zipping it up, she slipped on her shoes and out the door as quickly as possible. _'I'm glad that Dad's already at work too._ ' She thought to herself as she turned down the street, or else she probably wouldn't have had the resolve to storm out the way she did.

Hiyori gave herself a few more breaths before she slowed down enough to look down at her phone, immediately searching for Yama's name. The phone only rang twice before she heard her voice, "Hey, Hiyori, what's up!"

"Can I come over? It's an emergency." Thankfully Yama's house was only a few streets over, so she didn't have to worry about asking for a ride or anything like that. Still, with just her pajamas and her coat, it was a bit cold.

"You don't have to ask. I'll be waiting outside for you, okay?"

"Thanks." She forced a smile to herself before hanging up. Next up was her brother.

"…Hiyori? You're up early." He answered in a surprised tone, "I'll be there in a few—"

She interrupted him, "Hey, so… Mom and I kind of got into it. Like, more than ever before. About Fujisaki-kun." All the emotions were finally catching up to her and her voice cracked.

"Oh." He answered quietly, "Are you okay?"

"I guess." She sniffled a bit, "I'm heading to Yama-chan's houses currently—I walked out after yelling at mom. But I couldn't take it anymore, she _never_ listens—!"

"I know. I know exactly how you feel." Masaomi replied consolingly, "Just stay at your friend's house for a bit, relax, and we can meet for dinner or something so we can talk before going back home."

Hiyori nodded and reached up to wipe a tear that had started to drip down across her face, "O-okay. Just… let me know when you're getting close."

"I will. Stay strong, Hiyori. You didn't do anything wrong by sticking up for yourself."

"I know. Thank you." She sniffled again, "Talk to you in a little while."

"Okay. Bye for now." He answered.

"Bye." She hung up and stuck the phone into her coat pocket, her tears starting to fall at a more consistent pace. She was hardly paying attention to where she was going, but thankfully she had a good muscle memory of the route to Yama's since had gone there for so many years.

On top of that, she didn't even make it to the front of Yama's house before she saw and felt her friend colliding with her. "Hiyori!" She hugged her tightly before letting her go and pulling her into the house quickly, "C'mon, it's cold out. Let's get you inside."

"Thanks." She squeaked out as her friend practically dragged her in.

Yama stayed quiet until they had gotten to her room, despite the fact no one else was home. "Sit down and get comfy." She waved towards her bed.

Hiyori didn't need to be told twice. And rather than sitting, she crumpled down into the bed and curled into a ball, Yama gently taking a seat beside her and rubbing her back.

"What happened?" She asked, her voice just above a whisper.

"Fujisaki-san apparently followed me on Christmas night and saw that I stayed at Yato's apartment and told my mom about it. He must have called her last night, she suddenly said she was tired and went to sleep but then I guess she couldn't hold it in anymore and started yelling at me this morning before I was even awake." She hid her face in the blanket.

"That bastard seriously has no life." Yama responded, her anger immediately flaring up, "Seriously, just say the word and I will go right to his front door."

Hiyori lifted her head to answer, "I don't want you getting in trouble. But yeah, I was so mad at my mom… I literally just let everything out. I told her what happened in high school. Whether or not she'll actually believe me or not, I don't know." She pressed her face against the bed again, "And of course, I still haven't said anything about Yato. I feel like Fujisaki-san telling her I've spent the night at his apartment is just going to cement that she'll hate him no matter what now."

"I know it's hard being in a situation like that, but you and Yato are great together. So honestly screw your mom if she has any problems with him. Especially if it's based on anything _that_ jerk said." Yama huffed harshly. Rubbing her back again, she questioned, "Have you told him what happened yet?"

Hiyori shook her head, "No." She paused to think before continuing, "He's at work, so I don't want to distract him."

"Just as long as you don't keep him in the dark about what's going on."

"I know, I won't. He'll either text or tweet me when he gets off work, so I'll let him know then. But I did talk to my big brother on the way over here. He's getting into town today, so we're going to meet up somewhere and talk about everything." She parted her lips in a sudden realization, "Which, I guess, I might need to borrow some clothes from you, seeing as I don't really have any…"

Yama gave a wave of dismissal, "Of course. Don't worry about that."

"I have another favor." Hiyori turned her head to look up at Yama.

"Anything." She answered immediately.

"I think I want to go back to sleep for a while. My head hurts, I'm not sure if it's from the crying or being woken up so suddenly." She gave a small laugh, though Yama just frowned in response, "But yeah, I just need some more rest, I think. If you could catch Ami-chan up in the meantime…"

Yama nodded, "Yeah, I can do that." She slipped off the bed and moved to her window, pulling the curtain closed so that the sunlight in the room was at least somewhat blocked out.

"Thank you." Hiyori sat up only to lay her head back down onto Yama's pillow, closing her eyes, "Wake me up if I'm not up after two hours, though."

"Will do." She heard her answer before she heard the creak of the door, "Let me know if you need anything." Hiyori hummed an answer and she heard the door shut with a click.

She let out a long breath of air, thinking it was really hard to not text Yato. But she really didn't want him to get upset over something that really couldn't be fixed immediately. Not to mention that he would probably blame himself in some way, even though it was absolutely her idea to stay the night in the first place. ' _Not that either of us would have ever guessed that we were being followed_.' She thought bitterly.

Remembering the details of walking home that night with the detail that he had been just a few steps behind him was enough for the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up and for her stomach to churn. She really couldn't let her guard down.

' _If he ever did something to hurt Yato or Yukine-kun…_ ' She clenched her teeth as well as her fists, not able to finish the thought. Her eyes flying open, she confirmed to herself, ' _This is the last time. I'm not going to be intimidated by him anymore_.'


	26. Discussions

**Apologies once again for the late update. I put** _ **Good Enough**_ **on hiatus for April so I could work on my Big Bang project which I ended up delaying as well due to my mental health. And then in May I focused on working on cosplay stuff as well as a Noragami/Shinto panel for that convention. It's a bit short as most recent chapters have been, I just basically really want to make sure I can get stuff out to you guys in somewhat of a timely manner. I hope you enjoy.**

"Hey, is everything okay? Your text kind of got me worried."

Hearing Yato's voice sent a wave of relief over her for a moment before she remembered the subject of the conversation. Frowning again and heaving a sigh, she answered bluntly, "Um… No, actually."

"What is it?" His voice got a little bit quieter and she took a breath before starting her explanation.

"I guess my mom got a call from Fujisaki-san last night. She kept quiet about it until this morning when she basically woke me up by yelling. It turns out… he followed us from the train station Christmas night and saw that I didn't leave your apartment. So she was freaking out about my life decisions and I just basically walked out. I'm at Yama-chan's house but I'm meeting up with my older brother soon."

The phone was silent, so Hiyori clarified, "I'm okay, I'm just… in disbelief that she will never listen to my side of things. But I'm also angry as well as scared that he followed us—not really for myself, but… I don't want him anywhere near you or Yukine-kun."

She finally heard his voice, though it sounded a bit muffled as if he were holding his face in his hands, "I'm so sorry, Hiyori."

"For what? It was my idea to stay over at your apartment, plus it's not like we knew—" She started but was interrupted.

"I should have been paying better attention when we were walking home. I was goofing off and being stupid; you could have been hurt." He practically sounded on the verge of tears himself, the frustration clearly overbearing.

Hiyori was quick to correct him, "Yato, don't think like that. It's like you told me before, all the blame falls on him, you didn't do anything wrong. We shouldn't have to worry about him every time we step outside; that's not living."

"I know you're right, but…" She heard a harsh sigh come through the speaker, "Fuck. I wonder what it will take for this guy to actually leave you alone." After a pause, he questioned nervously, "You don't have to see him for any of your family things, do you? Especially since he and your mom seem to be BFFs—"

"Actually…" She interrupted quietly, pulling nervously at the bottom of her shirt, "Fujisaki-san and his parents will be at the party for hospital staff—the day before New Year's Eve."

"I'm going." Yato replied before she could get out the rest of her description.

Hiyori blinked in disbelief, "What?"

"You shouldn't have to deal with this by yourself anymore. But also, he's trying to intimidate you. He won't be expecting me, so that'll throw him off guard too."

His voice was sincere and he wasn't speaking out of anger, but she was at a loss for words. "B-but, don't you have to work?"

"That's the day I was supposed to be heading over to Kofuku and Daikoku's. Look, don't worry about it. Only thing that might be worrisome is what sort of clothes I need to scrounge up… but I can always bug Kazuma. He's about the same size as me." Yato continued to ramble, mostly to himself, as Hiyori still tried to gather her words.

Her throat dry, she asked quietly, "Are you sure?"

He finally paused, "Do you… not want me to?"

"It's just that I—I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm worried for you too, you know. I don't know what he's going to do, and then there's my _parents_ —"

"I mean, you were going to let the cat out of the bag later this week anyway, right?" He questioned, adding, "Plus, uh… it's sort of already half-way out of the bag, thanks to that asshole. But yeah."

She finally swallowed, "I know, but me telling them as opposed to you actually having to talk to them are two different things entirely. And especially because of what Fujisaki-san told my mom… they're probably going to be really harsh towards you and I don't—"

Yato waved her off, "Look, Hiyori. Pretty much, no matter what, I'm honestly going to be terrified to talk to your parents, particularly your mom, so… It doesn't really matter. It's going to suck either way, so let's just get it over with."

"You're right." She admitted, letting out a breath of air. She placed her hand over her face, trying to ignore all the possible scenarios running through her head, "But… I still apologize in advance for anything they say."

He gave a laugh in response, "In a way, I don't really blame them. I probably threw some of the same insults at myself after you first asked me out to dinner and I realized you were actually interested too."

"That doesn't mean that any of it is true." She chewed her bottom lip lightly out of annoyance.

"I know." He answered softly, his tone still amused.

Hiyori smiled and stayed quiet for a moment before her phone vibrated against her ear. Pulling it back to look at it, she saw it was a text message from her brother.

"What's up?" She heard Yato's voice and pulled the phone back to her ear.

"My older brother is getting close. He said he stopped for gas but should be at Yama-chan's in about fifteen minutes, so I need to start getting ready." She dangled her legs over the side of the bed and let her feet touch the floor, "I'll text you later and let you know how it goes with mom after trying again. Hopefully I can make it somewhat easier for you."

He gave a half-hearted and forced laugh, "I doubt it, but thanks for trying."

"If you end up not being able to come, that's alright too." She added quietly. She was excited at the thought of seeing him sooner than anticipated, but she knew the weight of the visit was definitely a heavy one.

"Short of something serious going on with Yukine, I'll be there." He answered confidently.

Hiyori closed her eyes and let out a breath, "Thank you. Bye for now."

"See ya."

Shortly after she put the phone down on Yama's bed, she heard a knock on the door. "You can come in." As the door slowly swung open and Yama peeked in, she added, "You really didn't have to leave the room in the first place."

Yama shrugged, "Eh, your relationship is getting serious so I figured I'd give your space." Pausing, she tilted her head and asked, "But I did overhear something since you kinda raised your voice a bit. Is Yato coming here?"

"For the New Year's party, yeah." She nodded and twisted her hands in her lap, "I'm somewhat glad and relieved but… I know it's going to be really hard for him, too."

She took a seat next to Hiyori on the bed, humming, "I think it'll be a good thing. I didn't really want you going to that party by yourself. I mean, I know your brother would definitely keep a close eye on you since he knows what's going on, but since other people at the party know him well I guess there's more of a chance for him to get pulled away momentarily. Since you and Yato are a couple, anyone talking to you would probably talk to both of you at the same time; in theory."

"Um, yeah, possibly." She gave an unsure nod, "I went to a few family business dinners and such with Fujisaki-san when we were dating, but everyone knew him, so that was a bit different as well."

"Well, my family dinners are a lot more casual, but anytime I brought a boyfriend along, we were almost always addressed together. Especially if they were just meeting them for the first time, if that helps at all." Yama finished with a small grin.

"It does, thank you." Hiyori slid the rest of the way off of the bed and stood up, "My older brother is almost here so I'm going to get changed. Thanks again for the clothes, Yama-chan."

She waved her hand, "Not a problem! Anything for you, Hiyori."

Giving another smile, she grabbed the shirt and jeans next to her and moved into the bathroom. It was a bit cramped compared to the one she had at home, as was much of Yama's house, but she had always found it a lot more homey than her own. Her house was almost sterile at times; which made sense, considering she grew up in a family of doctors.

Yama was the tiniest bit taller than her, but they were relatively the same size, so her borrow clothes fit with ease. Looking in the mirror, Hiyori ran a hand through her slightly tangled hair and let out a small sigh. Exiting the bathroom and going back into Yama's room, she held her dirty clothes in her arms awkwardly.

Yama blinked and waved to her hamper, "Just throw those in there. I'll get them washed and put them in my suitcase for when we head back to the university."

She gripped them uncertainly, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, of course. Just send me a text to remind me to pack them, if you could." She gave a sheepish laugh before she pointed at Hiyori, "Oh, and if you could do the same for me, please."

"Oh, right." Hiyori lightly pulled on the hem of the borrowed shirt, "Definitely." Feeling her phone begin to vibrate in her pocket, she pulled it out and saw that it was her brother. Accepting the call, the held the phone up to her ear, "Hi, are you here?"

"Yep, I'm right out front." He answered simply, "See you in a minute."

After he had hung up, she slipped her phone back into her pocket and reached to grab her coat, "My big brother is outside waiting."

"I'll walk you out." Yama reached for her coat as well as Hiyori grabbed the last of her things.

As they came out the front door, Masaomi stepped out of the car and onto the sidewalk, waving, "Hey." They both waved back as they approached him, and he added, "Thanks for looking out for Hiyori, Yama-chan."

"Of course!" She replied enthusiastically and grabbed her shoulders, "She's always welcome here."

"Thanks." Hiyori murmured sheepishly.

Masaomi waved towards the car, "Well, you ready to go?"

She nodded and unlatched herself from Yama's grasp, "I'll talk to you later."

"Good luck." Her friend's face faltered into a more serious expression before she flashed another quick smile and turned around.

Hiyori pulled the car door open and lowered herself into the seat. After she had closed the door and pulled the seat belt across her, her brother asked, "Do you have any specific requests for where you want to eat?"

She shook her head, "Not really. I guess somewhere more laid back like a diner."

"Sounds good to both me and my wallet." He answered with a small laugh as he started the car.

"More expensive doesn't always mean better." She answered automatically before making a sour face, "On top of that, the fancier of a place we go to, the more likely we run into someone who knows us and mom and overhears something."

Masaomi clicked his tongue in agreement, "…Very true. A diner it is, then. And let's stay on this side of town as an added measure of security."

"Sounds like a plan to me." She rested her hands in her lap and let out a little breath.

He glanced over to her, "Are you feeling any better than you were this morning?"

Hiyori nodded, still looking down at her lap, "I am. It's just… a lot. But I definitely feel better after talking with both Yama-chan and Yato."

"So you did get the chance to talk to him already." He acknowledged and she caught that he had raised his eyebrow in interest.

"Yeah. He, um… He actually wants to come to the New Year's party. Since Fujisaki-san will be there." She began to fiddle with her fingers and he hummed in response.

"How do you feel about that?"

Hiyori took a breath, admitting, "I would feel more comfortable having him there, but… I know that the people there, especially our parents, are probably going to give him a hard time. So because of that, I kind of don't want him to come because I don't want him to go through that. But he said he's going to be nervous and have a hard time no matter what so it's better to just get it over with." Looking out the window, she added, "I told him it was fine if he ended up not being able to come. He did originally have plans to be with his own family, after all. But he seems pretty intent on coming."

Her brother let out a small, nervous laugh, "I'll do my best to help, but you definitely know that crowd just as well as I do. Anyway, did he need clothes or anything? I mean, I don't know what size he is compared to me, but I'll do what I can."

"He's already going to ask his friend Kazuma-san since they're about the same size. But if that falls through, I'll let you know." She nodded appreciatively, "Thank you."

"Well, even if it's a bit unexpected as well as complicated, I'm glad I'll get the chance to meet him. Or get re-acquainted with him, I guess I should say, since the last time I saw him he was barely up to my knees." He flashed a grin before looking back at the road, "Hard to believe it's even the same person as back then."

She gave a laugh, "Believe me, I know… It was very surreal when I just saw him on campus for the first time."

"Imagine how it felt to get a phone call from your sister saying she's dating him now." He joked back and she flushed a bit.

"Yeah, I get it. It's weird." Hiyori mumbled in response, turning her head to hide her face.

He gave another laugh before they fell into a comfortable silence. After another turn, he pulled into a parking spot and announced, "Guess it's time to come up with our game plan to handle Mom."

"Right." She agreed, but her hands were already starting to shake.


	27. Round One

**Apologizing forever for my delays, writing is just not coming to me as easily these days. I'm overwhelmed and tired most of the time, but I'm trying my best! Hope you enjoy.**

"All in all, you're going to be an adult in a few months. I'm sure it'd be nice to have support, but ultimately you've got do what's right for you." Masaomi rested his head against his open palm, letting out a bit of a sigh, "It was really rough when I was first starting out, but I ended up doing okay. And Mom and Dad may not be exactly happy with it, but they've accepted it; with time, of course."

Hiyori chewed on her lip, "I know, it's just… really hard to get started. I've been pushing back against Mom here and there, but nothing like this."

Her brother let out a laugh as he answered, "If it's any consolation, at least you got the career part right. It's only your choice in boyfriends that sucks in our parent's eyes."

She merely pouted in return, raising her voice a bit, "But they don't even know anything about him! It's not fair that they've already picked out who and what exact kind of person I should date."

"It certainly doesn't help that the only thing they know is that you've spent the night at his apartment already." He commented in a low voice so it wouldn't be overheard by other customers in the diner, "I mean, I'm not too happy about that myself, but I trust your judgement, so I won't linger on that."

Flushing, she sunk down into her seat and muttered, "Thanks."

"I mean, I guess it was going to happen _eventually_. And none of us would have even known about it if we weren't told by someone else—" He started to babble and she immediately raised her hands.

"Let's please not talk about this." Hiyori barely managed to choke out, "I don't know anything about your private life and I'd like the same courtesy, if at all possible."

He coughed and cleared his throat. "Right. Anyway, computer science is a good career. It may not be as classically prestigious as something like a doctor or a lawyer, but like I said before, it's not a bad choice at all. So even if he's struggling financially at the moment, I'm sure he'll do well after he's done with school. They'll see that too, even if it takes a while."

"I just hope that they don't eat him alive in the meantime…" She looked out the window as she trailed off.

"Well, speaking of being eaten alive… Are you ready to go home?"

Sighing, she nodded and looked back his way, "I guess as ready as I'll ever be."

Masaomi slipped out from the table and stood over by her side, reaching out to touch her shoulder, "It'll be okay."

"I know." She answered quietly and he moved his hand lower to help pull her out of her seat, "Thank you."

The ride home was quiet, Hiyori repeatedly wringing the hem of her shirt until she remembered that it was borrowed from Yama and stopped herself for fear of ruining it.

As they finally pulled into the drive way, her brother spoke softly, "Breathe. You can do this."

She exhaled before reaching for her seatbelt and then moved for the door. As they walked towards the front door together, she reached for her purse of habit but realized that in her rush to get out that morning, she'd left everything including her house keys behind. "Um, I guess we have to ring the doorbell."

"Eh, what's a little more awkwardness in an already awkward situation?" He shrugged and reached out to press the button, greeting, "Hi, Mom. It's me and Hiyori."

They didn't hear an answer through the intercom, but the door swung open gently and she waved them in, "Welcome home, come on inside."

The moment the door clicked shut, Hiyori inhaled deeply, but her mom quickly interrupted her.

"I know you want to talk, but your father is going to be home any minute and I don't want him walking in on any sort of argument, okay?" She gave a weary and forced smile, ushering her forward, "Maybe you should just lay down for a bit and relax."

" _Mom_." Masaomi called out harshly, begging, "Just… listen to her for a minute, okay? That's literally all she needs from you."

Their mother's mouth hung open for a moment before she folded her arms across her chest and gave in, "Alright. Go on, Hiyori."

Blinking a few times and trying to figure out what order to put all of her swirling thoughts into words, she finally started, "The person that Fujisaki-san saw me with the other night, that was Yato. You may not remember him, but I used to be friends with him when we were small; before we moved here. I bumped into him on my college campus and after a while of getting to know each other again through tutoring Yukine-kun, who he's taking care of, we started dating."

She started twisting her hands together, looking down, "I've been dating him for a few months now and I've been too afraid to tell you because I know he's not exactly… what you or dad have envisioned for me. But he works so hard for everything he has and he would do absolutely anything for Yukine-kun, despite the fact that they're not biologically related. And he's actively trying to get into a better situation, that's why he's in school. So, please…" Her eyes started to water and a tear trailed down her face as she looked up to her mom, "Please don't judge Yato or me by something that Fujisaki-san said. Like I told you before I walked out, Fujisaki-san isn't actually looking out for me. He's been harassing me for years and everything he tells you about me is for his own personal gain. I did stay at his apartment that night, but it wasn't some sort of rash decision with a person I didn't know. We were at Yato's family's house for a Christmas party just before he saw us walking back and we ended up staying later than planned, that's all."

The last part was a bit of a fib, but she also wasn't going to willingly admit to her mom that she really just wanted to spend more alone time with her boyfriend. Still, it seemed to do the trick; her mom's body posture had at least eased in the slightest, her arms lowering to her sides.

She let Hiyori's words soak in a bit before she gave her reply, speaking slowly, "I'm still very much in shock about Kouto-san and I'm so sorry that I—that I made you feel like you couldn't talk to me about what happened. It's just hard to believe that he could do something like that."

"He's… very good at putting on an act. I fell for it too, for a while." Hiyori admitted quietly, "But the more you're around him, the more you see how he really is."

She hummed, acknowledging her daughter's statement, but continued onto a different topic, "As for this person you've been dating…" She hesitated.

"Yato Ametsuchi." Hiyori clarified and her mom nodded.

"Ametsuchi-san; I suppose it's hard to judge without actually meeting him. But… you are still young and you're not necessarily going to marry the person you're dating right now anyway…"

Hiyori gave a small huff of annoyance before Masaomi cut in, "Well, you might be able to meet him sooner than you think. How would you feel about him coming to the New Year's Eve party?"

Her heart skipped quite a few beats as she motioned to her brother in confusion, mouthing, ' _What are you doing?_ '

"Oh? Have you met him already Masaomi, dear?" Their mom raised her eyebrows in interest.

He shook his head, "I haven't talked to him since I was in high school technically, but I've heard a lot of good things from Hiyori and I think it would be a good chance for us all to meet him since we'll all be the in the same place at the same time. Plus holidays are always a fun time for everyone, right?"

Hiyori exhaled, somewhat relieved that he hadn't mentioned that Yato wanted to come due to her fear of Fujisaki, but was still on edge as she waited for her mother's answer.

She clicked her tongue in thought, answering, "I suppose you're right. How long would he be staying if he comes?"

"Probably just the one night—he only has a short time off of work due to the holiday and I know he also had plans to spend time with his family on New Year's day as well…" Hiyori piped in nervously.

"If you're alright with him staying in your room Masaomi, that should be fine. I'll speak to your father about it when he gets home. In the meantime, I'm going to sit or lay down... There's a lot to think about." She reached up to rub her temples and started to walk towards the living room.

"O-okay!" Hiyori called after her, practically collapsing against the wall once she was out of sight. "Oh my god…" She muttered underneath her breath.

Her brother let out a laugh, "You did it!"

"For now… A few more days and I'll basically have to start over once Yato is here. To be honest, I think she's still got more to say to me, too." She let herself slide a little bit further down the wall.

"Yeah, but that's later on. Don't worry about it till then." He reached behind her and nudged her forward, "For now, why don't you call Yato-kun and give him the good news?" He pointed at the stairs with his thumb, "I'm probably gonna go ahead and take a bath, I've had a long day of driving."

Hiyori nodded with a small smile, "Alright, I'll see you at dinner."

As she walked up to her room, she noticed it should be just about time for Yato to get home from work, but there was always the chance that he had been kept late. Still, she moved to his name on her phone and hit the call button.

After the phone rang about 4 times, she heard him answer, "H-hey, I'm actually just walking through the front door."

"Do you want me to call you back later?" She asked in a concerned tone as she took a seat on the end of her bed.

"Nah, just give me a minute. I'm gonna leave the phone on the counter, I'll be right back." She heard the creak of his hardwood floor for a moment before all she could hear was the white noise that the phone created.

Waiting, she went ahead and leaned back onto the bed and sprawled outward. The dorm bed was fine, but there definitely was nothing like being at home and in her own bed. Sinking down into the mattress and closing her eyes, she finally heard his footsteps coming through the speaker again, followed by his voice, "Sorry 'bout that."

She shook her head, "It's fine."

"So… you talked with your mom?" He trailed off, uncertain.

Giggling a bit, she asked, "No beating around the bush for you, huh?"

"I know you were really nervous. I mean, hell, I was—no, I take that back. I _am_ nervous." He answered back, his words tumbling out of his mouth.

"I know, I know…" She answered, giving a small laugh again, "It was… okay. She didn't say much, at least in terms about me dating you. But she does know that you're coming for the New Year's Eve party and seems to be relatively okay with it." Hiyori paused before adding, "She did finally apologize… for not listening to me about Fujisaki-san, at least."

"That's great, I mean it's something, right?" He answered excitedly, "I'm happier about hearing that than stuff about me."

Hiyori smiled gently, "It is _something._ " Her smile faltering, she added, "But… actions speak louder than words, as they say, so… I won't get too excited just yet."

"Yeah, guess you're right." She heard the microphone muffle a bit before a groan, "Ugh, my back hurts so bad from all these long days. Might need to give me a message before that party or I'll be slumped over the whole time."

"Not having proper posture is definitely one of the fastest ways to get kicked out of a high class party." She teased and rolled onto her side, facing the wall, "So we can't have that."

With a laugh, he commented back, "Well, then again, it is a room full of doctors so maybe I can find a way to borrow a back brace. And if I pass out from exhaustion, at least I don't need to worry about getting care."

"Jeez. You sure you want to come to this party? Sounds like you're trying to tell me that you're dying." She narrowed her eyes, hoping he wasn't trying to downplay how exhausted he really was with jokes.

"No, no. I definitely want to come. I have to be your bodyguard and meet your family, so no backing down from that, no matter what. But also, I've never seen you all dressed up so, that'll be nice…" He finished with what almost sounded like a longing sigh, immediately setting her cheeks on fire.

"I could say the same for you, you know." She answered back quietly, though her voice was more level as she answered, "But I guess it's kind of just you wearing Kazuma's clothes."

"Wow. Low blow, Hiyori." He answered flatly.

"I didn't—" She stumbled over her words, "Sorry! Ugh. I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I just meant Kazuma is dressed up… all the time? Like that's his normal day to day clothes."

Yato did an overdramatic scoff in return to her apology, but answered, "Yeah, he doesn't really know how to be casual. Meanwhile Bishamon will walk around in practically nothing—they're a really weird couple, to be honest."

"I guess opposites attract." Hiyori gave a shrug against her pillow.

"Mmm." He hummed in response, "Hey, Hiyori?"

"Yeah?" She blinked in curiosity.

His voice was quiet and so honest that it made her heart ache, "I miss you."

"I miss you too." She answered automatically, smiling widely, "But we'll see each other in a few days."

"Yeah. But still, this apartment feels super empty without Yukine or you here. Doesn't help that all I do is work, eat, and sleep." She heard the rustling of fabric as he moved around, "But I know it's temporary. Never thought I'd be grateful for school to start back up, but here I am."

Hiyori practically snorted, "Wow, you must be _really_ lonely if you're saying that."

"I am, Hiyori, I am. Don't mock me." He gave a pause, adding, "Speaking of people mocking me, I actually need to call Kofuku's place, I told Yukine I'd check in tonight."

"Ahh, I'll let you go, then." She started to sit up, "Say hi to everyone for me."

"Will do. Talk to you soon."

She hesitated, answering softly, "Bye."

"Bye." He echoed, lingering a few seconds before hanging up.


End file.
